Heather Watson reveals what she told coach Morgan Phillips before win over Caty McNally

And what happened? Three disastrous double faults as she was broken in her first two service games – and the British no 2 was staring yet another first round defeat in the face this year.

Eventually Watson pulled herself together to win 7-6, 6-2 against the big hitting 17-year-old qualifier to register her first Wimbledon win since 2017, and set up a second round clash with 20th seed Anett Kontaveit.

Watson, who has had a miserable run coming into Wimbledon this year – had in fact registered her first Tour win since September last year in Quebec.

She said: “I actually said to my coach, ‘I’m going to serve first, I’m serving so well at the moment’. Then that happened.

“Three double faults in my first game. But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

“You can be playing really well but be losing matches, not play so well but be able to get through winning ugly.”

Watson had lost in the first round of the Australian Open this year, and did not even qualify for the main draw in the French. In the build up to Wimbledon she had crashed out in the opening rounds at each of the warm up events – at Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne.

But, as she became the first Brit to battle through to the second round at SW19 this year, she admitted: “It was a shaky start. I was a bit nervous and it showed.

“I’m a confidence player, so not having those wins in the last few weeks, I was maybe overthinking it a bit. I’d been practicing really well, so losing in those first rounds was disappointing.

“First rounds in Grand Slams are always tough. There’s a lot to gain, a lot to lose out there.”

Watson, who revealed earlier this week that she had been suffering online racial abuse which had led to a man being arrested last week, admitted that she had not enjoyed a gruelling game out on Court no 12.

She fell 3-1, 5-4 and then 6-5 behind in the first set before finally winning the tie break and finding her groove in the second: “I didn’t enjoy any of it, apart from when that last point was done. But I was pleased with the last game and how I closed it out.”

source: express.co.uk