Watson beat number four seed Chloe Paquet 7-6, 6-3 in the first match on the centre court of the DMOS People Arena today.
The tournament is the largest women’s indoor event in the UK.
“There’s no place like home,” said Watson afterwards.
“Wherever I go in the UK, I feel like it’s home. So I’m really glad I could come back here to Shrewsbury and just enjoying the good vibes and I really feel like in this stage of my career, I’m playing some of my best tennis, so it’s really nice to be out here on court and just really enjoying it, probably more than I ever have.”
Paquet and Watson are good friends off the court.
“It’s always tough to play a friend, but I knew it’d be a battle, so I had to play some really good tennis and dig deep.”
Watson’s semi takes place tomorrow.
Pictured top: the LTA promoting the match on social media.