Heather Watson crashes out in first round yet again

The British No 1 lost the first set in a tie-break after she had twice stopped the American from clinching it on serve.

The 23-year-old then served for the second set at 5-4 but was broken after a poor service game, allowing the world No 84 to take the match to a second tie-break.

Watson, who nearly knocked out Serena WIlliams at WImbledon earlier this summer, eventually fell at the first hurdle for the fifth year in a row after Davies took a 6-0 lead in the second breaker and converted her first match point.

Watson said: "I was thinking a lot about this match, thinking that it was a big opportunity and about the previous years and my results here. Maybe I thought about that a bit too much.

"I was cramping a little bit in my hand, and then when I moved to the other side of the court I started cramping in my legs.

I'm fit coming into the tournament. It's not that I'm not fit. It was just a mix of the tension and a bit of the stress and everything together."

Watson will stay on in Flushing Meadows to play in the doubles with New Zealander Marina Erakovic before returning to London.