Jo shows the best of British
JO KONTA won the all-British battle against Heather Watson to reach the quarter-finals of the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham.
It was a second meeting on the WTA Tour for Britain’s top two and, like the first one in Indian Wells last year, Konta came out on top.
The windy conditions made life difficult for both players but ultimately it was the extra power of Konta, who reached the final here 12 months ago, that made the difference in a 6-4, 7-6 victory.
Konta has a huge amount of ranking points to defend in the grass-court season and her confidence is still fragile but, aside from a host of errors at the net, this was a good display from the 27-yearold. Watson had trouble dealing with the Konta return in particular, and a single break in the fifth game was enough to settle the opening set. Watson made the better start to the second and led 4-1 but Konta fought back and edged a close tiebreak.
“One hundred per cent it was not easy and conditions made it even harder,” said Konta. “It’s never easy to play a compatriot. I just tried to keep my focus. I feel fortunate to get through, there was very little in it.”
The fourth seed, who faces Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic next, was the second Briton to make it through to the last eight after wild card Katie Boulter beat former US Open champion Sam Stosur 7-6, 6-1.