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NATURE VALLEY INTERNATIONAL

June 25, 2018

Heather Watson

Eastbourne, England

K. MLADENOVIC/H. Watson

6-7, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was a tough one but a really good fight. You two always have these kinds of epic battles. Your thoughts today on the match?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, we always seem to have a long one. Yeah, today I just felt really inconsistent. I didn't feel good about myself and my game today. I had some good shots here and there, but just really inconsistent. So, yeah, not much I can really say.

Q. Where do you feel you're at from where you were when we saw you in Birmingham?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, I definitely felt better in Birmingham. I guess it's just, yeah, tough when you're not winning as many matches as you'd like. I wasn't thinking about it coming in, but when your ranking is dropping, as well, it's just frustrating.

Q. Forget about the ranking now, just getting grass under your feet ahead of Wimbledon, you know, what are your plans now? Are you here for doubles, as well?
HEATHER WATSON: No. I will head back to London and just keep working at it, keep doing the same things, training hard. I think I'll try and get a lot of sets in these next couple days, because obviously I haven't been playing many matches.

Q. It was obviously disappointing today, but what sort of frame of mind do you go into heading into Wimbledon? Once you look back on today, looking forward, do you feel there is positivity going into next week?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, today I'm not feeling very positive, but from tomorrow I'm going to have to be.

Yeah, I've just got to just forget about it, just move on, put it in the past and just focus on Wimbledon. It's a great opportunity. I love playing there. I still love grass, despite my results this year so far (smiling). But, yeah, it's another great opportunity for me.

Q. Is there still excitement about playing Wimbledon? Even though the results haven't been good in the buildup, do you still get the same buzz, the same excitement?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, of course. It's Wimbledon. It's a Grand Slam. I love it there. So I'll definitely be looking forward to playing there.

Q. Obviously not the forefront of your mind at the moment, but tomorrow they will decide at Wimbledon whether Serena Williams gets seeded or not. What's your take? Should Serena be seeded? When a player goes away and has a baby, should their ranking be protected as it is with injuries?
HEATHER WATSON: I think -- oh, it's a really tough one, because I'd say Serena is the exception. For her, specifically, yeah, I'd seed Serena.

On having a baby, I find that that's more of a choice than injury, so I don't think that you should have a protected ranking if you have a baby because it's your choice to have that baby. Injuries aren't a choice.

You know, you can have tournaments taken away from you just because you're just not actually physically able to play.

Q. In terms of the grass court season, because it's so short, does it feel like a little bit of a lottery that you only have really three shots at it in the season before Wimbledon? And if you go out, one, two, three, it really does leave you short? Does it feel like it's a lottery even though we know you can't have any more grass because of weather, et cetera?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, it is short.

Q. And not very sweet?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, not so sweet this year. But, you know, tennis is so up and down. It's just such small margins all the time, so you can miss out by the smallest bit and vice versa.

You can just scrap yourself through to a tournament win. Like last year when I came into the grass I played Surbiton and I wasn't feeling amazing, but I ended up getting to the final there and had a great run here and Wimbledon, and, you know, once you get that bit of confidence, you can just sort of just run with it.

Q. Is grass in particular one of those surfaces where the margins are so small it can very quickly get away from you more so, say, than on clay where...
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, absolutely. I think on a fast surface like this, a shot here and there can really change momentum, and I felt that especially in the third set when I had that bad call. I thought that can -- it just changes momentum so quickly.

Q. Andy Murray was back with a win, almost a year since his last win. In terms of British tennis, how important and pleasing is that to see him back out there?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, it must have been so hard for him being taken out of the game for so long with his injury. I watched his match last week actually on TV, and he was so close. It was unfortunate he couldn't come through it.

I didn't see any today obviously because I was playing, but winning with that scoreline must have been incredible for him, and he must be feeling great now.

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