'Very tricky' Heather Watson loses to Belinda Bencic in straight sets in the third round of the Miami Open

Great Britain's Heather Watson has been knocked out of the Miami Open after losing 6-4 6-1 to Belinda Bencic in the third round in 86 minutes. Watson, who was looking to break into the top 100 in the WTA rankings, entered the match off the back of fine comeback wins against Arantxa Rus and Elina Svitolina. Ad/> But she could not match the quality displayed by world No.

4 Bencic, who has strengthened her head-to-head record to a 2-0 against the world No. 115. WTA Indian WellsDisappointment for Brits as Watson and Boulter crash out10/03/2022 AT 22:15 Bencic will play either Irina Begu or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the last 16.

«She's a very tricky player,» Bencic said on-court afterwards. «I haven't played her in a long time. It's always very difficult because you don't know how it feels [to play her].

»She played with a lot of control and she tries to take you out of position. It was very tricky at the start but I'm happy I found my flow and happy to be through." Watson, a four-time WTA titlist, pressured Bencic early on but was not able to capitalise on any of her seven break points. The pair were locked at 2-2 with each game averaging six minutes which was visibly frustrating Bencic in the hot conditions.

Watson was handed the break she deserved to move into a 4-2 lead as Bencic double faulted, but Bencic immediately broke back with disguised backhand handing her the break point before Watson fired a wild backhand into the net. /> Watson's second double fault gave Bencic the chance to take the lead and the Swiss took it as the Brit mishit her forehand before chucking her racquet on the ground. Bencic held her serve to seal the opening set in 58 minutes, finishing off with a smash.