Heather Watson knocked out by Elise Mertens in French Open second round

Heather Watson is out of the French Open after losing 6-3 6-4 to Belgium’s Elise Mertens.

The results means that there are no British ladies left in the singles draw, with Cameron Norrie and Kyle Edmund holding the nation’s hopes in the men’s singles.

World number 16 Mertens was heavily fancied to progress against the world number 80 and that is exactly how it proved.

Just one game out of nine was held in the opening set, with Mertens early 3-0 lead proving crucial.

Watson played some good tennis in the second set and came back from 2-4 down to level, but she was broken when serving to stay in the match as Mertens secured her progression to the next round.

Mertens will play either Daria Gavrilova or Bernarda Pera in the second round.

Cover Photo: By Carine06 from UK (Heather Watson) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons