British number one Heather Watson lost an epic third-set tie-break to Mariana Duque-Marino in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open this evening.
It was a nervy start from Watson as she had to save three break points in the opening game, but she was soon into her stride and won five more games in a row to clinch the set 6-0.
Colombia's Duque-Marino broke Watson in the first game of the second set to get on the board, but Watson pegged her back three games later to make it 2-2.
Duque-Marino re-established her advantage in the next game and this time she didn't give it away, going on to level the match with a 6-3 success.
The momentum was with the world number 110 and she opened up a 4-1 lead in the decider before Watson rallied back with four of the next five games to leave the match finely poised at 5-5.
Watson had a chance to serve for the match at 6-5 after breaking Duque-Marino, but she failed on three match points as Duque-Marino forced a tie-break.
The Colombian had the better of the breaker, but it wasn't until her sixth match point that she claimed a 13-11 triumph to advance in the Spanish capital.
Third-seed Maria Sharapova awaits Duque-Marino in the second round.
Pascal Lemesre
