Watson battles way into all-British semi-final in Nottingham

Heather Watson set up an all British semi-final at the LTA's Rothesay Open Nottingham after battling past Viktorija Golubic in a tense quarter-final. Having come all the way through qualifying, Watson faced a tough battle against contemporary Viktorija Golubic, who was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2021. Ad And in an encounter that lasted well over two hours, it was the Brit who prevailed 7-6(2) 7-5 to reach a first semi-final in Nottingham, where she will take on British No.1 Katie Boulter.

TennisBoulter wins battle of the Brits to break new groundAN HOUR AGO Watson is the first qualifier to reach the semi-final in Nottingham since the tournament returned in 2015, and was relieved to have come through another stern test on Friday. «It feels absolutely incredible — the support today was amazing,» said Watson. «I'm just so happy to be through to the semi-final on home soil.

I can't wait for my next match and I'm definitely going to rest and recover after that one because it was such a tough battle. »Me and Viktorija, we're the same age. We've grown up together through juniors and she's a good friend of mine — we practice together all the time and I know she's such a fighter.

«I was going to really have to earn it, and I felt like from the first game it was just back and forth, just such long games and having to keep calm and keep fighting through. I'm just glad I could get over the line in the end.» Watson's win sets up an intriguing last four encounter against Boulter, who earlier on Friday defeated Harriet Dart 6-3 7-5 in another all-British encounter — while Jodie Burrage also reached the last four. And she is now ready for another tough match when she steps onto court on Saturday — but is refusing to dwell on