Heather Watson feeling the heat at her last competitive outing, the Australian Junior Open. (Picture by Press Association,0711159)

HEATHER WATSON’S professional debut has been delayed a month.

And with more than a touch of irony, her first tournament among the senior women, will now take place in Jersey.

She had hoped to compete in the $50,000 Clearwater Open in Florida starting this weekend and the $25,000 Fort Walton Beach Open early in March. But an incredible and unexpected surge of interest in the Clearwater event from other players has left the Commonwealth Youth champion frustrated on the sidelines.

Her predicament emphasises the cut-throat business of breaking through into the senior rankings of world tennis.

‘The problem is quite simply a Catch 22-one,’ said her father, Ian, yesterday.

‘You need ranking points to get into the senior tournaments but you need to be in those senior tournaments to get the ranking points. In her first year as a senior she will be dependent on wild cards in home [country] tournaments and the first of those is Jersey.’

The Watsons were shocked by the scramble for Clearwater places.

‘We didn’t anticipate so many entrants,’ said Ian.