First ever Channel Island victory at Wimbledon

Sunday 10 July 2016

Guernsey’s Heather Watson became the first Channel Islander to win a Wimbledon title after partnering Henri Kontinen to win the mixed doubles final on Centre Court today.

Despite never playing together before the tournament, Watson and her Finnish partner defeated Colombia's Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4 to win a first ever Grand Slam title.

Watson became the first Brit to appear in the mixed doubles final since Jamie Murray, partnering Jelana Jankovic, in 2007.

The 24-year-old, from St Peter Port in Guernsey, is the current British No 2. She is the daughter of Papua New Guinean national Michelle and Manchester-born Englishman Ian Watson, who was the Managing Director of Guernsey Electricity from 1995 until his retirement in 2010.

Watson started playing tennis at the age of seven and at the age 12 she trained and lived at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. In 2012 Watson became the top-ranked British senior woman player on the WTA rankings, overtaking Anne Keothavong.

Today’s victory was her first in a Grand Slam, but four years ago Watson won her first WTA singles title with a win over Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan in the final of the Japan Open, becoming the first British female to win a WTA singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988.

In her junior career, Watson won the US Open and gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.