A “tremendous optimistic and assured” Heather Watson has mentioned her essential focus subsequent yr shall be the Tokyo Olympics after reaching her first WTA Tour ultimate in three years eventually month’s Tianjin Open.
The British No 2 broke again into the world’s top-100 following her run in China, an ascendancy which has assured her entry into the primary draw of the Australian Open. However as she prepares to move into her pre-season coaching camp in Florida within the coming weeks, Watson insists her focus already lies elsewhere.
“The Olympics is big for me and it’s my No 1 purpose for subsequent yr,” she mentioned. “I’ve had such nice experiences there up to now, I like to characterize my nation and be concerned in one thing like that. My diary the place I make all my notes and plans simply has huge letters on it – 2020 – as a result of that’s all I need to concentrate on.”
That purpose might need appeared distant earlier within the yr, when Watson, 27, endured a four-month dropping streak from January to Could earlier than dropping right down to ITF degree in Japan. Her fortunes continued to slip in the course of the grass season, when first-round defeats in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne foreshadowed a week-one exit at Wimbledon.
