French Open: Katie Swan and Heather Watson advance to second stage of qualifying

Watson and Swan are the only British players left in qualifying following defeats for Jay Clarke and James Ward

Wednesday 22 May 2019 08:43 EDT
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Katie Swan and Heather Watson moved into the second round of French Open qualifying with victories at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

Swan's win was particularly impressive, the 20-year-old overcoming a rankings gap of more than 100 places to beat second seed Jil Teichmann 6-4 6-2 in just an hour and nine minutes.

It was Swan's second career victory over a top-100 player and booked a second-round clash with China's Wang Xiyu.

Swan is looking to reach the main draw of a grand slam outside of Wimbledon for the first time.

Watson has reached the second round of the French Open six times, coming through qualifying on four of those occasions, and she arrived in Paris in good spirits having finally ended her long losing run with a second-tier title in Japan earlier this month.

The 27-year-old is seeded fifth in qualifying but was given a tough test by Dutchwoman Bibiane Schoofs before coming through 6-2 4-6 6-4.

Watson secured the crucial break of serve in the seventh game of the deciding set and will take on Greek Valentini Grammatikopoulou next.

Watson and Swan are the only British players left in qualifying following defeats for Jay Clarke and James Ward on Monday.

PA

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