Yes that was the expected win, it's the next round that is the tough one though.

QR1: Heather WATSON (GBR) [q12] 102 def Hayley CARTER (USA) 670 (CH:438 July 19) 6-0 6-2

FQR: Heather WATSON (GBR) [q12] 102 vs Nina STOJANOVIC(SRB) [q3] 85=CH

That was the only upset in the final qualifying round and with the 18 points she gets for it Heather has already covered last January's points haul so she will come out of the Australian Open ahead whatever happens (although hopefully there are more wins to come).

A great result for Heather. MD rankings are tomorrow's rankings. It's a good draw for Heather, since Teichmann is a clay court specialist, should give her a good chance here.

FQR: Heather WATSON (GBR) [q12] 102 def Nina STOJANOVIC(SRB) [q3] 85=CH 6-4 6-3

R32: Heather WATSON (GBR) [Q] 101 vs Jil TEICHMANN (SUI) 67 (CH:54 July 19)

It really has been a very good start of the year for Heather. A blip against Sanders, but 2 top 100 wins, and perhaps most pleasing, securing direct AO entry, and avoiding the dreaded qualifiers.

She should have more than a good chance of beating Teichman as she is the 8/15 betting favourite, although it is still a higher ranked, top 100 player. I remember when Katie S played Teichmann at RG quals when Jil was in the top 100, and Andy P noticed the vast majority of her points had come at the WTA Prague event a few weeks prior. She has since added another WTA clay title to her resume (Palermo), so that clearly needs to be respected, and it does make it seem less like a fluke random hot run, but a huge 578 of her 883 points have still come at those 2 events, so it shows how modest she was throughout the rest of 2019.

IF she does get past Teichmann, then it'll be a familiar face in round 2 - either Peterson, who she lost to in the Tianjin final a few months ago, or Ferro, who she beat last week in Brisbane.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Sunday 12th of January 2020 12:37:46 PM

Ace Ventura wrote:

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It really has been a very good start of the year for Heather. A blip against Sanders, but 2 top 100 wins, and perhaps most pleasing, securing direct AO entry, and avoiding the dreaded qualifiers.

She should have more than a good chance of beating Teichman as she is the 8/15 betting favourite, although it is still a higher ranked, top 100 player. I remember when Katie S played Teichmann at RG quals when Jil was in the top 100, and Andy P noticed the vast majority of her points had come at the WTA Prague event a few weeks prior. She has since added another WTA clay title to her resume (Palermo), so that clearly needs to be respected, and it does make it seem less like a fluke random hot run, but a huge 578 of her 883 points have still come at those 2 events, so it shows how modest she was throughout the rest of 2019.

IF she does get past Teichmann, then it'll be a familiar face in round 2 - either Peterson, who she lost to in the Tianjin final a few months ago, or Ferro, who she beat last week in Brisbane.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Sunday 12th of January 2020 12:37:46 PM

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 That's amazing really. Though nearly half of Heather's points come from her best two events last season. It is good she has started so well this season especially as she was so poor for the first 4 months of last year she has hardly any points to defend.

HarryGem wrote:

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Ace Ventura wrote:

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It really has been a very good start of the year for Heather. A blip against Sanders, but 2 top 100 wins, and perhaps most pleasing, securing direct AO entry, and avoiding the dreaded qualifiers.

She should have more than a good chance of beating Teichman as she is the 8/15 betting favourite, although it is still a higher ranked, top 100 player. I remember when Katie S played Teichmann at RG quals when Jil was in the top 100, and Andy P noticed the vast majority of her points had come at the WTA Prague event a few weeks prior. She has since added another WTA clay title to her resume (Palermo), so that clearly needs to be respected, and it does make it seem less like a fluke random hot run, but a huge 578 of her 883 points have still come at those 2 events, so it shows how modest she was throughout the rest of 2019.

IF she does get past Teichmann, then it'll be a familiar face in round 2 - either Peterson, who she lost to in the Tianjin final a few months ago, or Ferro, who she beat last week in Brisbane.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Sunday 12th of January 2020 12:37:46 PM

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 That's amazing really. Though nearly half of Heather's points come from her best two events last season. It is good she has started so well this season especially as she was so poor for the first 4 months of last year she has hardly any points to defend.

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Yep, I guess a lot of players will have a few events where they do a lot better than their typical results, but Teichmann's really do stand out massively. Heather does at least have the 70 at Wimbledon, 80 for winning that Japan W60 title, and 57 for the New Haven SF, to go with those 180 and 140 at Tianjin and Vancouver, whereas Teichmann's 3 biggest points hauls outside of her 2 titles are 60, 50 and then 30.

Teichmann would likely rather win the 2 events and then do very little else, than reach e.g. 4 WTA intl SFs and 2 QFs to record exactly the same number of points, as she'll always be a multiple WTA title winner, but for me, when analysing GB opponents, posting far more consistent results throughout the season, but without that end carrot, does make the prospect seem tougher for our players (just generally speaking, not factoring in specific game styles or match ups), and I guess that is reflected in the odds here.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Sunday 12th of January 2020 02:31:36 PM