Robson through as bold Watson runs Sharapova close

LAURA Robson advanced to the second round of the US Open last night when Japanese opponent Ayumi Morita retired with the British teenager leading 7-6 (7/5), 1-0 – and, for much of her sensational clash with Maria Sharapova, Heather Watson looked in with a real chance of joining her.

Watson, the British No 3 and world No 104, gave as good as she got against the 2006 champion and third seed, taking the first set 6-3 before being edged out 7-5 in the second.

Sharapova finally prevailed in an intriguing third set, winning 6-3, but the Russian was handed a mighty scare.

In Robson’s match, Morita called for the trainer after the first game of the second set and, after a brief assessment of what appeared to be a right shoulder injury, she decided she could no longer continue. Robson competed well with Morita, ranked 46th in the world, and had just broken the Japanese player’s serve for the fourth time when play was halted.

Robson, the British No 4, was playing in the main draw of the US Open for the first time after coming through qualifying.

Her forehand, in particular, was firing well and she broke Morita at the first attempt to move 2-0 in front. However, a string of errors allowed Morita to win four games in a row. Back came Robson to break for 4-4 when Morita threw in a double fault, only to lose her serve for a third time to leave the Japanese player serving for the set.

A stunning backhand gave Robson two break points and she took the second to set up a tie-break which saw mini-breaks aplenty, but it was a moment of fortune for Robson, as a net cord dropped on the line, that proved crucial, the Londoner clinching the game with a big serve. Moments later the match was over and Robson will now play either Spanish 30th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues or Italy’s Karin Knapp.