On 29 August 2011, in the first round of the US Open, Watson lost in three sets to former champion Maria Sharapova. After the match, Sharapova stated "There's no doubt that she's a great up-and-coming player". At the start of 2012 Heather Watson suffered an ankle sprain. She then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. Watson was selected for the British Fed Cup Team to play in the Europe/Africa Group-1 match at Eilat, Israel on 1–4 February 2012. In the group stages she played doubles with Laura Robson, defeating pairs from Portugal and the Netherlands and Israel in the group stages. Robson and Watson were not required to play their doubles in the play-off match against Austria as Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha won their singles rubbers, and the 2–0 lead qualified the team for a place in the World Group II promotion play-off in April 2012. Watson won three rounds in qualifying for the French Open at Roland Garros in May 2012. She then defeated Elena Vesnina in the first round, matching her 2011 result in the tournament. In the second round she was defeated by the 25th seed Julia Görges of Germany. Watson, ranked 103, beat world No. 52, Iveta Benešová of the Czech Republic, in her first singles win at Wimbledon in June 2012. She then beat Jamie Hampton of the USA, becoming the first British woman since 2002 to reach the third round of Wimbledon. In the third round Watson lost to the third seed and eventual runner-up Agnieszka Radwańska. In the Stanford Classic, Heather Watson lost in the second round to world No. 37, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, after a victory over the world No. 49, Sloane Stephens from America. Watson won the doubles at the Stanford Classic, where she played with Marina Erakovic to beat Vania King and Jarmila Gajdošová in a second set tiebreak. This was her first title on the full WTA Tour. At the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, she beat Eleni Daniilidou to set up a second round meeting with qualifier Chan Yung-jan. However, she lost the match. She received an ITF wild card into the singles tournament at the London Olympics, where she defeated Silvia Soler Espinosa, before losing her second-round match to Maria Kirilenko.