Britain’s Heather Watson rallies to win Monterrey Open

Britain’s Heather Watson rallied to beat Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 36, 62, 63 to win the Monterrey Open.

The 30yearold Flipkens dominated Watson in the first set, breaking the British player in the 6th and 8th games of Sunday’s final.

“I thought Kirsten was pretty flawless in the first set, and I was getting frustrated with myself. I just had to stay calm and try my best. I never looked past the next point,” the 23yearold British player said.

Watson, who entered the match ranked 84th in the world, rallied in the second set and managed to pull off the win.

“I’m extremely happy today. I was nervous coming into the match, and I’ve never beaten Kirsten before she’s a great player who really makes you work for it,” Watson said after Sunday’s final.

The victory boosted Watson’s ranking to No. 53 in the world in the WTA rankings released on Monday and put $43,000 in prize money in her pocket.

“Mexico, thank you. Te amo! I’m a big fan of Mexico. When I was 6 years old, we used to come to Mexico for Christmas for six years. I’m just so glad to be able to win a title here. I need to learn some more Spanish,” Watson said.

In the doubles final, the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated Croatia’s Petra Martic and American Maria Sanchez 46, 75, 107.

European players have dominated at the Monterrey Open, with France’s Marion Bartoli winning the title in 2009; Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova taking home the trophy in 2010, 2011 and 2013; Hungary’s Timea Babos winning in 2012; Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic grabbing the championship in 2014; and Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky winning in 2015.