Konta topples Venus for first WTA title
Frenchman Monfils rallies past Karlovic for Washington crown
Britain’s Johanna Konta captured her first WTA title in style on Sunday, beating former world No. 1 Venus Williams 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at the WTA hardcourt tournament in Stanford, California.
Konta, ranked 18th in the world and seeded third, appeared on her way to an emphatic victory in her first career final after racing to a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve in the second set.
But Williams, seeking her 50th career title, won six of the next seven games to knot the match at a set apiece.
The 25-year-old Konta, who fired 12 aces to three from Williams, didn’t let the seventime Grand Slam champion’s resurgence rattle her.
“Quite honestly you’d expect nothing less of a champion that she is,” Konta said. “That’s what great champions do. They raise their level. They definitely don’t give away a match.”
Refreshed after a brief bathroom break, she broke Williams in the third game of the final set, and took a 3-1 lead with her 10th ace of the match.
WTA hardcourt tournament in Stanford on Sunday: Final:
Johanna Konta (UK) beat Venus Williams (US) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
Washington Open: Men’s singles (final):
2-Gael Monfils (France) beat 13-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 5-7 7-6(6) 6-4.
Women’s singles (final):
7-Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) beat Lauren Davis (US) 6-4 6-2.
She broke Williams again to serve for the match at 5-2, and despite a couple of nervy missteps in the final game sealed the victory on her third match point.
Meanwhile, France’s Gael Monfils saved a match point and battled back with sharp returns in sweltering heat to defeat Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in Sunday’s Washington Open final.
The 29-year-old Frenchman took his sixth ATP title, his first since 2014 at Montpellier, first outside of Europe and first outdoor trophy since Sopot in 2005 as well as claiming the top prize of $348,200 (Dh1.2 million) on the US capital hardcourts.
“I’m very happy,” Monfils said. “It has been a good year so far. It’s a good step but hopefully I will have bigger.”
– AFP