HEATHER WATSON had a ‘tentative’ victory in the opening round of the £25k AEGON Pro-Series Sutton tournament.

Last week, the 17-year-old was crowned the 2009 Sportingbet Channel Islands Sports Personality of the Year in recognition of her brilliant victory in last year’s US Junior Open.

But her start of the year was certainly not as memorable as little-known Chinese player Hao Chen Tang unceremoniously dumped her out of the first round of the Australian Junior Open.

That must have been on her mind as she came up against Karen Barbet in Sutton yesterday in her first competitive match since that defeat.

However, once the world number 558 overcame her initial nerves, she beat her 17-year-old Danish opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

‘Towards the end she was good,’ said Watson’s mother Michelle.

‘She was a bit shaky in the beginning, but that’s to be expected. It’s difficult when you’ve not won a match in a while.’

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