Rising Star Heather Watson Wins $50,000 Tevlin Challenger

Eighteen-year-old Brit will crack Top 200 with title win

Heather Watson of Great Britain defeated France’s Alize Lim 6-3, 6-3 to capture the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger in front of a capacity crowd at Toronto’s Centre of Excellence on the grounds of Rexall Centre on Sunday afternoon.

The match opened with three consecutive service breaks as both players battled nerves in the biggest final of their respective careers. It was No. 7 seed Watson who held serve first to take a 3-1 lead and carry on to win the first set. Watson broke Lim again in the eighth game of the second set to jump ahead 5-3 and serve out the championship match.

"I’m so happy. This is the biggest win of my career so far,” said Watson. “I knew I was going to have to work hard. Lim played so well this whole tournament.”

In addition to $7,315 in prize money, Watson earns 70 important ranking points which will see her move to a new career-high and inside the Top 200 for the first time. She finished 2009 ranked No. 588 in the world.

“I’m so excited because my goal was to end the year Top 150 and I have one more tournament. So if I play well I can get there.”

Watson entered the Tevlin Challenger ranked No. 209 in the world. She has two previous Challenger title wins; one at the $10,000 level and one at the $25,000 level.

Lim earned her way to the final by defeating two Canadians, including Canada’s top-ranked player and No. 1 seed Rebecca Marino in Saturday’s semifinal. She also ended 15 year-old Carol Zhao’s surprise run in the quarter-finals.

The Tevlin Challenger was founded by Tennis Matters benefactors Michael and Nicole Tevlin of Toronto as part of a generous high performance pledge. This year marks the sixth edition of the tournament and its third at the $50,000 prize money level.