Jo wipes out nasty memory

HOMETOWN girl Johanna Konta took just 72 minutes to wreak her own kind of revenge on Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the Aegon Championships at Eastbourne yesterday.

The British No1 dropped just four games as she won 6-2, 6-2 in front of her beloved Devonshire Park crowd.

Two months ago Konta was a member of the British Federation Cup team who were abused and insulted by some Romanian players, the crowd and team captain Ilie Nastase in a painful defeat that bitterly upset them and reduced members of the squad to tears. It is a subject Konta is careful to steer clear of, but the way she pounded Cirstea to defeat seemed to have an extra edge of meaningful intent.

“I’ve put it behind me now, put it to bed, I wasn’t going to get involved in past experiences,” she said.

Konta, the fifth seed here, should have played again late last night to put the rain-hit schedule back on track but, after another downpour, she will take on French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko this morning. “What she has achieved is just incredible,” Konta said of the Latvian. “But I will be coming in with a lot more confidence and preparation after my time at home. I just hope I can carry on performing in what is a very special place for me.”

If Konta reaches the final here it would be a major boost for her Wimbledon hopes.

Heather Watson was also due to play but her match was postponed for a second successive day. Watson will try again against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova today.