US OPEN: KONTA DOWNS WATSON
JO KONTA saved four set points against Heather Watson before running away with their Battle of Britain in New York.
British No2 Watson had two points to win the first set on the Konta serve at 6- 5. And the Channel Islander had two more in the tiebreak before the No9 seed took her first set point when Watson hit a cross- court forehand wide to win 9- 7.
British No1 Konta put her first match point into the net at 5- 0 before Watson held. But the three- time Grand Slam semi- finalist took her second in the next game when Watson sent a backhand long to win 7- 6, 6- 1 in an hour and 47 minutes.
She will play Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the second round.
The defeat means 2009 Junior US Open champion Watson has still to win a first- round match in New York – or take a set off Konta in four meetings.
Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong said: “It is never easy playing a fellow Brit, especially when it is someone you get on well with. Heather handled herself well in that first set and it was very competitive.
“It was an impressive tiebreak and, when it really mattered, Watson was just too passive. Three out of four of those set points Jo came up with a big serve but the other one will probably give Heather nightmares.”
Garbine Muguruza dedicated her first- round win to “humble” Carla Suarez Navarro after her fellow Spaniard revealed she had been diagnosed with early stage Hodgkin lymphoma.
Former world No6 Navarro, who pulled out of the turnament last week, will now face six months of chemotherapy. Navarro, 32 tomorrow, had planned to retire at the end of the season.
Former Wimbledon champion Muguruza, who beat Japan’s Nao Hibino 6- 4, 6- 4, said: “When we spoke a few days ago when she gave me the news, I was shocked because I was expecting to see her in this tournament. You know, she’s such a nice woman, so sweet, so kind, so humble.
“When these things happen to these good people, I feel, like, so sad about it. “I will dedicate this win to her because I want her to feel that we are behind her, that I am behind her, and I will see her at some point when it is fine.
“We shared a decade of emotions. It’s a shock for me, somebody so close that is going through this.”
Navarro has reached seven Grand Slam quarter- finals. She said in a statement: “As I let you know in previous weeks, I’ve been unable to train. When I expose my body to the demands of professional sport, it doesn’t sustain the effort. I haven’t completed a practice session since July.
“We’ve been looking for medical reasons to explain why I was feeling unwell.
“I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. The doctors told me that it was small, curable lymphoma detected at an early stage. I must complete a treatment with six months of chemotherapy. “That’s the only goal I have.”