Watson out to avenge Stephens French Open loss at Eastbourne

British hope Heather Watson has a fantastic 4-1 head-to-head record over her AEGON International third round opponent Sloane Stephens at Eastbourne, but that one defeat came recently at the French Open.

Coral make Watson an 11/8 outsider to win her first-ever meeting on grass with American Stephens (odds-on 8/15 match favourite), who is a young pretender to compatriot and WTA world number one Serena Williams.

It’s worth noting that three of Watson’s four victories over Stephens have come in three sets, so superb odds of 7/2 say it will be 2-1 in her favour again.

Elsewhere at Eastbourne, the early battle between two of women’s tennis rising stars, Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Swiss teenage sensation Belinda Bencic, could be another British player’s fourth round foe in Johanna Konta.

An Australia native, the 24-year-old must first vie with Venezuelan-born Spanish surprise package Garbine Muguruza, who reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals. Konta stunned WTA top 10 player Ekaterina Makarova in the second round, so should be taken seriously.

These two have met before, however, and the Aussie-cum-Brit lost in three sets. Konta is 6/5 to correct that defeat, though odds-on 8/13 match favourite Muguruza is better at 3/1 to win in three sets again.

Whether Watson and Konta can get past Stephens and Muguruza remains to be seen, but awaiting the former will be either Daria Gavrilova, a replacement at the AEGON International for reigning Wimbledon ladies’ champion Petra Kvitova, or Sara Errani of Italy.