She was in doubles action in Melbourne playing alongside Lucia Bronzetti in the first round.
Heather Watson & Lucia Bronzetti lose out at the @AustralianOpen #BackTheBrits ???????? | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/sgD6LUINdM
— LTA (@the_LTA) January 17, 2024
The pair lost out to Yafan Wang and Yue Yuan 6-3, 6-3.
After the opening games went with serve, the Chinese pair decisively broke Watson’s serve to love in the fourth.
They remained unbroken to take the first set.
In the second, Wang/Yuan broke Watson’s serve to establish a 2-1 lead, before Watson and Bronzetti immediately hit back by winning on Wang’s serve.
Then with the scores level at 3-3, Watson’s serve was again put under pressure and their opponents established a 4-3 advantage, going on to take the next two games and with them the match.
Last week Watson was beaten in the first round of the qualifying tournament for the singles by Lulu Sun 6-4, 6-3.