Winner's Circle: Watson has fun in Acapulco as she grinds to fourth WTA title

In this edition, Great Britain's Heather Watson battles her way through the opposition at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL in Acapulco to claim her first WTA title in almost four years.

After going 1-1 versus Slovakia at the Fed Cup Qualifiers, Watson resumed her WTA duties as the seventh seed in Acapulco. She faced a tricky first round opponent in Coco Vandeweghe, overcoming the American 4-6 6-4 6-4 in two and a half hours.

In the second round, she faced former Top 10 player Katerina Bondarenko. Saving two set points in the first set, she proceeded to dominate the second and advance with a 7-6(2) 6-2 victory. Watson next faced Christina McHale, who had won their last encounter when they met in Acapulco in 2016. Despite a sudden slump in the second set, the Brit was able to outlast her American foe. She prevailed 6-3 1-6 6-1 after an hour and 52 minutes, to book her spot in the semifinal.

Awaiting Watson in the semifinal was China's Xinyu Wang, who had upset her compatriot sixth-seeded Lin Zhu. Although the Chinese woman put up a valiant effort, she was unable to overcome the Brit, who triumphed 6-4 7-6(6) to reach her first final of the season.

In her first final since the 2019 Tianjin Open (l. to Peterson), Watson would face Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez. The Canadian had broken Mexican hearts by ending the dream run of local wildcard Renata Zarazua in the semifinals. Nonetheless, the crowd seemed split down the middle as both ladies put on a thrilling display of tennis.

After Watson claimed the first set, Fernandez had to dig deep and save five championship points in the second set tiebreak. The Canadian survived and a third set ensued. However, she had nothing left in the tank and managed to save four more championship points before Watson prevailed 6-4 6-7(8) 6-1 to claim the Acapulco trophy.

This would be Watson's fourth career title, and first since winning the 2016 Monterrey Open. Having a career plagued by injuries, the 28-year old Brit had seen her ranking fall to 102 at the start of the season. However, she would rise to World No.49 following her victory at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL and end a four-year title drought in the process.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou6lFN5VtYk[/embed]