Fortunes Flip for Jo as she shows heart
Konta puts scare behind her to get back on track with win over Belgian
JO KONTA put a heart scare behind her to race to her first win since March at the Western & Southern Open in New York.
The British No.1 lost her opening match after lockdown at the Lexington Open earlier this month and reported she had suffered “heart palpitations” for the fourth time.
But playing in the midday heat at Flushing Meadow – where the US Open will be staged next week – the former Wimbledon semi-finalist won the final 11 games to beat world No.79 Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 6-0 in only 63 minutes.
The world No.15 only dropped six points on her serve and made six breaks in only her fourth win of 2020. It was also her first victory with new coach Thomas Hogstedt.
Konta said: “I am really pleased to have got a win.
“Obviously the first one since Monterrey, which was six months ago, so it was a long time coming.
“There were some close games but the majority ended up going my way so it did end up being reasonably fast.”
Konta, who will face former world No.2 Vera Zvonareva in the next round, insisted she was relaxed about the heart problem which saw her feeling “lightheaded” while losing to world No.48 Marie Bouzkova in Kentucky.
She said: “I haven’t gone
for anymore, for any tests, since then. They will happen more when I am at home.
“There are some other things going on in the background.
“I had two episodes recently close together but, before that, I hadn’t experienced it since 2018 so I think there is plenty of room. It probably won’t happen – touch wood – for a long time again.
“But I am looking into different ways of being able to monitor it.”
Dan Evans was blown out of the tournament by the big serve of Milos Raonic as the Canadian won 6-3 7-5.
The former Wimbledon finalist, who has not cut his hair since January, sent down 23 aces and won 33 of 37 points on first serve.
The British No.1 had beaten No.10 seed Andrey Rublev in the first round.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev launched the defence of his Western & Southern Open title with a 6-4 6-4 win over Marcos Giron.
This tournament is usually held in Cincinnati but has been moved to Flushing Meadows to create a two-tournament safety bubble including next week’s US Open.
Evans said: “It was tough – I didn’t stand much of a chance. I just move on.”
Serena Williams survived a scare when world No.72 Arantxa Rus served for the match in the third set before the American won 7-6 3-6 7-6.