Aegon Classic Birmingham: Johanna Konta overcomes wobble to win
Johanna Konta's competitive instincts helped her overcome a second-set wobble in her opening-round clash against Lesia Tsurenko at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham...writes Eleanor Crooks
The British number one had little time to adjust to the courts at the Edgbaston Priory Club after reaching the final of the Nottingham Open on Sunday.
There she suffered a shock loss to Donna Vekic, and the world number seven was in trouble again when she trailed 5-2 against Ukraine’s Tsurenko in the second set.
But Konta won three games in a row and then took her third match point in the tie-break to win 6-3 7-6 (8/6).
She said: “I felt actually throughout the whole match maybe I just dropped my level a little bit. In that one service game, when she broke me and she gained momentum back and started playing better.
“It was actually really tough to hold on. But I felt I stayed in each point quite well. I competed well in each of them, and I really just tried to do the best that I could.”
The 27-year-old called for the doctor early in the second set. She did not want to reveal the problem after the match but insisted: “Everything is fine.”
In the second round Konta will face big-serving American Coco Vandeweghe, who defeated countrywoman Christina McHale 6-4 6-2.
The pair have not met before on the WTA Tour but Konta knows she is in for another tough battle, with Vandeweghe having reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon two years ago and the fourth round last year.
“She’s a very big player,” Konta said. “She’s got a lot of fire power, a lot of weapons. And I know she enjoys the grass.”
Fifth seed Kristina Mladenovic began her campaign with a 6-3 7-6 (7/2) victory over Duan Ying-Ying.
