Dazed Jo bounces back to land knockout blow
Asobbing Johanna Konta overcame slipping and hitting her head off the turf yesterday to beat world no 1 Angelique Kerber for a spot in the Eastbourne semi-finals.
Kerber was serving to save a match point when Konta fell as she stretched for a forehand, landing heavily on her back behind the baseline.
Centre Court fell quiet as former british no 1 sam smith said on bbC commentary: ‘i’ve seen some awful falls down the years but that is one of the worst.’
Konta was down receiving medical attention for five minutes and 20 seconds before she got up to secure a 6-3, 6-4 win in an hour and a half.
‘i slipped and i hit my head,’ said Konta, still dazed and holding an ice pack. ‘i’ve been checked out medically and there is no concussion. i fell back and hit my head. i’m feeling not too bad.
‘i have a bit of a sore head. We will see. The most important thing is to get some rest.’
While she was down on Centre Court, british no 3 Heather Watson was on Court 1 securing her own semi-final ticket by beating Czech barbora strycova 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Yet the cheers from the neighbouring court went unnoticed while the 26-year-old Konta was in tears.
it appeared unlikely the Wimbledon sixth seed would be able to continue. Her coach, Wim Fissette, looked worried. somehow, Konta did. Then, somehow, she broke Kerber and won.
This was a long day for the british no 1, who was forced to play twice at the Aegon international after bad weather led to a backlog of matches.
Konta is searching for the first grass-court title of her career and, on the plus side, she beat both of the grand slam champions put in front of her yesterday. Her win over Kerber, an Australian open and Us open winner, was confirmed at 8pm — four hours after she had seen off French open champion Jelena ostapenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 18 minutes.
Konta said: ‘it looks good on paper but a lot of work went into it. it’s another day tomorrow.’
Konta will be the first british top 10-ranked woman at Wimbledon since 1984 and her performances so far have shown why she is a worthy world no 7.
Kerber found that out here. Asked about the court after Konta’s slip, the german said: ‘it’s not so easy. The conditions are really tough — especially when we are waiting the whole day and walking on court, walking off. Then it’s sunny, and then we have half-shadow, half-sun on court. it was really tough out there.
‘Also now at the end of the day it was a little bit slippery because it’s getting night, it’s getting cold.’
Konta got to the final four of this tournament last year, when she lost in three sets to Karolina Pliskova. by coincidence, that is who she will face in the semis today.
The other semi-final will see Watson go up against world no 6 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
This has also been a beneficial week for 25-year-old Watson, who has a wildcard for Wimbledon.
on Monday she defeated Eastbourne’s defending champion Dominika Cibulkova, overcoming a top-10 opponent for only the second time in her career.
she followed that up yesterday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over world no 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, before beating world no 23 strycova. The momentum is there. ‘i have been waiting on it and it’s come now,’ said Watson. ‘i have been putting in the work on and off the court and i felt really good on the court in practice.
‘i played two matches and played really well. i had to come fighting.
‘it’s just building that confidence and momentum with match wins. getting titles under your name is important. i’ve got to win my next match. it would mean a lot.
‘Caroline is another toughie but i’m feeling good and looking forward to playing her.’
This was the first time since Virginia Wade and glynis Coles in 1975 that britain had two women in the quarter-finals of this tournament.
now, it is the first time that two have got to the semi-finals.