Exclusive
‘The biggest motivation is my love of the game’ – Heather Watson’s return from injury to the WTA Tour
Competing in Mexico last year, former British No.1 Heather Watson felt a strain in her left leg following an awkward landing on a serve.
At the time, Watson thought it was a niggle that she would be able to battle through, but as the season went on, the injury problems continued to persist.
She soon discovered that she was dealing with an issue to her glute hamstring tendon and after another busy summer grass court season, set time aside to focus on recovery.
It was one of the toughest injuries of her career, with the four-time WTA title-winner facing a challenge to get back to the peak of her powers..
“I got the injury landing on my left leg from a serve,” Watson said in an exclusive interview for LTA Advantage. “I got it (the injury) around March time. It started hurting that week and just never went away.
“Anyone who has had a tendon injury knows it’s just a guessing game when you’re going to recover, even if you’re doing all the rehab. Sometimes it just doesn’t want to get better and that’s how I felt with my injury, but we got there in the end.
“It was very challenging. I felt so drained from my injury that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play healthy again. I didn’t know if I was even going to play again. It was a challenging time physically and also emotionally.”
After months of hard work, rehab and time spent recovering, the 33-year-old British star is now back on the WTA Tour feeling as strong as ever.
In her first tournament back from injury, Watson came through two rounds of qualifying at the WTA 500 Merida Open with wins over France’s Diane Parry and Bulgaria’s Lia Karatancheva.
It was a full circle moment, claiming strong victories back in Mexico almost a year on from sustaining the injury. Watson credits her passion for tennis as the driving force along the journey.
“The biggest motivation is just my love of the game,” Watson explained. “I love competing, playing tennis, travelling – I feel like it’s been my identity for so long. It gives me purpose and I love to improve.
“It feels great (to be back competing). I feel super refreshed mentally and physically. To not be in pain for the first time in a year is like a weight lifted. I didn’t realise until now how much being in pain was really affecting me. All in all I’m very happy to be on court and pain free.
“I was so happy to get a couple of wins under my belt in Merida – and against good players too.
“I didn’t know how I was going to play. I haven’t been away from tennis as long as I have for this injury so I just went in hoping for the best.
“If you don’t get that win quickly it can come up on you quickly and then you lose confidence and start to question things. I didn’t know where my game was at, so it felt great to get those wins.”
Having spent her first week in the UK this year training at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, Watson feels ready for a busy season to come.
Watson’s energy is infectious and it’s easy to see that the British star is excited for what’s still to come in 2026 – including her favourite window in the tennis season.
“The grass court season is always my top priority, ever since the beginning of my career,” she said. “That’s a fact.
“I’ve built such a good fitness base now, especially in my legs, so my main goal is to stay healthy and super fit.
“I just want to be patient with myself. I’ve got the level but these things take time and you need things to fall into place. I’m just trusting the process.”