Watson has British top ranking in sight

(GETTY IMAGES)

Heather Watson, who is 19 today, could soon have another reason to celebrate. The 2009 US Open junior champion, who won her opening match in qualifying for the French Open yesterday, is making such good progress that she could be the British No 1 within a matter of weeks.

Already at a career-high No 119 in the world rankings, Watson is aiming to play in the French Open for the first time. After beating the 22-year-old Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of qualifying, she now faces Australia's Sally Peers. Watson, who was world No 176 at the start of the season, admits that she finds clay a major challenge, but the Guernsey teenager has already won seven matches on the surface this year.

Elena Baltacha (world No 83) and Anne Keothavong (No 108), the two Britons ranked higher than Watson, both go directly into the main draw at the French Open, which starts on Sunday. Baltacha, however, has a back problem which forced her to withdraw from her scheduled second-round match against Marion Bartoli in Strasbourg yesterday.

"I felt a twinge in my back before the match and I withdrew as a precaution," the British No 1 said. "At a tournament of this importance and against such a strong opponent you need to be fully fit. The WTA medical team here have been great and they expect it to settle down quickly with a couple of days' rest."

Juan Martin del Potro, who withdrew from the Madrid Masters earlier this month with a hip injury, is also expecting to recover in time to play in Paris. The 22-year-old Argentine, a former world No 4 and US Open champion, has had an unlucky run with injuries, having missed most of last year following wrist surgery.

Andy Roddick's chances of making Paris are not so good. The American pulled out of Sunday's doubles final at the Rome Masters with a shoulder injury and has also withdrawn from this week's tournament in Nice. Roddick said he would not play at Roland Garros unless he was 100 per cent fit. "I'm not going to take a risk if I'm risking months and months and months of injury," the former world No 1 said.

David Nalbandian, who has not played since having a hernia operation two months ago and will miss Roland Garros, has received a wild card for next month's Aegon Championship at Queen's Club. "My recovery is going well and I expect to be in good shape for the tournament," the world No 22 said.