Watson vs Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulkova’s defence of her AEGON International crown was ended in straight sets by former British no.1 Heather Watson.

The hard-hitting Slovakian was outgunned by Guernsey’s world no.126 on Centre Court 7–5 6–4.

Watson, who is a wildcard entry at next week’s Wimbledon, stunned world no.5 Elina Svitolina to three sets at Birmingham’s AEGON Classic last week.

But claiming the scalp of world no.9 Cibulkova, the defending champion and a quarter-finalist at last year’s Wimbledon, was a bigger triumph.

“It doesn’t really matter who I am playing against just now, I just want to get through rounds to the latter stages of tournaments. Dominika is a great player, great competitor. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She really pushed me at the end there and I got shaken a little.”

🇬🇧 Heather Watson