Greet Minnen (WTA 80) made a successful start to the first round of Wimbledon on Monday. The first of three Belgian singles representatives to take to the grass at the All England Club, Minnen defeated Briton Heather Watson (WTA 199), who is also her doubles partner, in two sets (7/5, 6/4). The match lasted 1 hour and 41 minutes.
In the first set, Memories led 4-1 following breaking his opponent’s serve twice and losing his own once. But Watson won four games in a row and took a 4-5 lead following another break. Minnen immediately broke back and won the first set on Watson’s next serve.
After a first set marked by seven breaks (four for Minnen, three for Watson), both players corrected the situation on their serve in the second set. A single break, in the last game, was enough for Minnen to win the match.
Minnen will meet the Italian in the second round Jasmine Pauliniworld number 7, seeded number 7 and recent finalist at Roland-Garros, or the Spanish Sara Smiles Tormo (WTA 55).
