On the eve of the 2020 Australian Open, Heather Watson has said her relationship with the Yeovil Town footballer, Courtney Duffus, has transformed her career – and her life.
Watson, who arrived in Melbourne on Saturday fresh from a run to the semi-finals in Hobart, plays Kristyna Pliskova on Tuesday. There are tougher prospects beyond that in a quarter of the draw that includes sixth seed Belinda Bencic, Donna Vekic (No 19), Aryna Sabalenka – who gave world No 1 Ashleigh Barty a good argument in the Adelaide final on Saturday – and, closer to her section, the accomplished Belgian Elise Mertens.
None of which fazes her, which is in marked contrast to her mood and disposition here a year ago when she went out in the first round after winning only three games against Petra Martic.
But her life and her tennis changed when she met Duffus – a 24-year-old striker who has played for the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level – and his brother while she was on a night out with Naomi Broady during Wimbledon last summer.
Seeds in bold, seedings in brackets
Ashleigh Barty (Aus, 1) v Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr)
Polona Hercog (Svn) v Rebecca Peterson (Swe)
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Blr) v qualifier
Bernarda Pera (US) v Elena Rybakina (Kaz, 29)
Alison Riske (US, 18) v Yafan Wang (Chn)
Viktorija Golubic (Swi) v Lin Zhu (Chn)
Julia Goerges (Ger) v Viktoria Kuzmova (Svk)
Christina McHale (US) v Petra Martic (Cro, 13)
Madison Keys (US, 10) v Daria Kasatkina (Rus)
Magda Linette (Pol) v Arantxa Rus (Neth)
Qualifier v Shuai Peng (Chn)
Margarita Gasparyan (Rus) v Maria Sakkari (Gre, 22)
Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus, 25) v Jil Belen Teichmann (Swi)
Kaia Kanepi (Est) v qualifier
Paula Badosa Gibert (Sp) v qualifier
Katerina Siniakova (Cz) v Petra Kvitova (Cz, 7)
Naomi Osaka (Jpn, 3) v Marie Bouzkova (Cz)
Saisai Zheng (Chn) v qualifier
Venus Williams (US) v Coco Gauff (US)
Sorana Cirstea (Rom) v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cz, 32)
Sloane Stephens (US, 24) v Shuai Zhang (Chn)
Samantha Stosur (Aus) v qualifier
Qualifier v Lizette Cabrera (Aus)
Qualifier v Sofia Kenin (US, 14)
Johanna Konta (GB, 12) v Ons Jabeur (Tun)
Madison Brengle (US) v Caroline Garcia (Fr)
Kristie Ahn (US) v Caroline Wozniacki (Den)
Qualifier v Dayana Yastremska (Ukr, 23)
Qiang Wang (Chn, 27) v Pauline Parmentier (Fr)
Fiona Ferro (Fr) v Alison Van Uytvanck (Bel)
Tamara Zidansek (Svn) v Na-Lae Han (Kor)
Anastasia Potapova (Rus) v Serena Williams (US, 8)
Belinda Bencic (Swi, 6) v Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Svk)
Qualifier v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat)
Sara Sorribes Tormo (Sp) v Veronika Kudermetova (Rus)
Astra Sharma (Aus) v Anett Kontaveit (Est, 28)
Donna Vekic (Cro, 19) v Maria Sharapova (Rus)
Alize Cornet (Fr) v qualifier
Iga Swiatek (Pol) v Timea Babos (Hun)
Carla Suarez Navarro (Sp) v Aryna Sabalenka (Blr, 11)
Elise Mertens (Bel, 16) v Danka Kovinic (Mon)
Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) v Heather Watson (GB)
Catherine Cartan Bellis (US) v Tatjana Maria (Ger)
Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) v Karolina Muchova (Cz, 20)
Danielle Collins (US, 26) v Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus)
Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) v Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe)
Qualifier v Misaki Doi (Jpn)
Jennifer Brady (US) v Simona Halep (Rom, 4)
Elina Svitolina (Ukr, 5) v Katie Boulter (GB)
Lauren Davis (US) v qualifier
Garbine Muguruza (Sp) v qualifier
Ajla Tomljanovic (Aus) v Anastasija Sevastova (Lat, 31)
Amanda Anisimova (US, 21) v Zarina Diyas (Kaz)
Jasmine Paolini (It) v Anna Blinkova (Rus)
Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) v Anastasia Rodionova (Aus)
Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) v Kiki Bertens (Neth, 9)
Marketa Vondrousova (Cz, 15) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus)
Qualifier v Camila Giorgi (It)
Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr) v Priscilla Hon (Aus)
Qualifier v Angelique Kerber (Ger, 17)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus, 30) v Nina Stojanovic (Ser)
Taylor Townsend (US) v Jessica Pegula (US)
Laura Siegemund (Ger) v Coco Vandeweghe (US)
Kristina Mladenovic (Fr) v Karolina Pliskova (Cz, 2)
“She was staying with me in London and he had the weekend off so he was in London with his brother [Tyrone, who plays for Cardiff City] and we just met in a restaurant, waiting at the bar for our table,” Watson said on Sunday. “They were there. The first thing they did was buy us shots … it was good fun.”
Watson, not a huge football fan but now an avid follower of Yeovil, had no idea who he was, although he recognised her. “I found that out later in the night so I was, like, ‘For sure, not going to date him. Not going there.’ At that stage of my life I had no interest in boys. I thought they were the worst.”
“I didn’t want a boyfriend for a long, long time so for me it just going to be a fun night. Nice meal, meet someone new and then that’s it. He had other plans. He asked to meet up the next day. I said, ’Sorry I’m busy, I’m going to a pool party with my friends.’”
“On Boxing Day we went with his family and he scored a hat-trick, so that was awesome. He just goes home and spends it with his family when he’s got time off – the opposite of what I thought a footballer was.”
As professional athletes, they have each learned more about each other’s working lives, and Watson was struck by how much harder tennis players work than footballers.
“They don’t train nearly as much as we do,” she said. “It’s a good life. And I’ve learned that there’s a lot of politics in football, really complicated. You just think of it as a team against a team, want to win, but there’s lot of different things. And their season’s just as long as ours.”
In a wider context, Watson is at peace with herself – which has not always been the case.
“It is incredible the contrast between how I was last year and how I am this year,” she said. “Just in life in general, I feel in a very good place. I have been playing really good tennis. I am happy on and off the court and just enjoying my time in Australia so far.”
So is Harriet Dart, who didn’t drop a set in three qualifying matches to earn another place in the main draw, against the Japanese world No80, Misaki Doi; if the Londoner gets past her, she will almost certainly play fourth seed Simona Halep, who begins her tournament on Tuesday against the American Jennifer Brady, ranked 49.
While Watson is a football convert, Dart has long been a keen Arsenal supporter, and they have both wrestled with their emotions from time to time. Dart spoke on Sunday about her regular communication with a sports psychologist, Chris Bradley, who has worked with several elite athletes, from Sheffield United to players on both tennis tours.
She could have done with him here a year ago, when Maria Sharapova inflicted a double bagel on her in the first round. Dart bounced back to reach the third round at Wimbledon, losing heavily to Barty on Centre Court, just after the Australian had won the French Open. Qualifying for the US Open for the first time was another encouraging milestone.
Dart, playing better this week than her ranking of 164 might indicate, said: “It’s kind of weird coming back here. I definitely think my emotions got the better of me in the [Sharapova] match, playing on a big arena for the first time.”
“Then again, I’ve had three matches in qualifying. And I’ve just got to remember that I deserve my place here this year. Especially at the back of last year, with Wimbledon, the US Open, I grew a lot. My tennis is improving, so it’s just being able to put it into matches.”