Mike Frey-Imagn Images

The British player who beat Raducanu and Konta to a unique WTA record in Asia

Originally posted on HITC | By Liam McMillen | Last updated Oct 12, 2025 9:46 AM ET

British women have tasted tennis success over the past few years, but only one star has lifted a trophy on the WTA Tour’s Asian leg.

Emma Raducanu has won a major, and Johanna Konta reached as high as World No. 4 in the WTA rankings, but neither managed to find success in Asia.

Konta did make it to the final of the China Open in 2016, where she faced Agnieszka Radwańska. However, the player who ended Britain’s long wait for a WTA title never quite broke through in the rankings like she had hoped.

Heather Watson’s Japan women’s Open win in 2012

Heather Watson may have just four titles to her name, but one of them stands out for breaking a long drought for British tennis in Asia.

Watson, who is currently taking a break from the game, won the Japan Women’s Open back in 2012. In doing so, she became only the second Brit to claim a title on the continent.

The only other was Andy Murray, who had already collected multiple titles across China and Japan by that time. That makes Watson’s win unique among British women.

It was also the first time since Sara Gomer’s victory at the Women’s California State Championships in 1988 that a British woman had won a WTA-level event.

In her run to the trophy, Watson defeated Chang Kai-chen, Misaki Doi, Pauline Parmentier, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Polona Hercog.

WTA Titles won by British qomen

There has been some recent success in women’s tennis for Britain, with Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal both adding titles to their careers.

Kartal took the Jasmin Open title in 2024, beating Eva Lys in the semi-finals before seeing off Rebecca Šramková in the final to claim the WTA 250 event.

Boulter’s two titles came from the Nottingham Open in 2023 and the San Diego Open a year later, results that helped her climb to a career-best ranking of World No. 23.

Virginia Wade remains Britain’s only Wimbledon champion from her win in 1977, while Emma Raducanu is still the country’s only US Open winner after her victory in New York back in 2021.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: