Konta switches from friend to foe as she defeats doubles partner in Nottingham

Johanna Konta had no issue with Yanina Wickmayer going from friend to enemy as the British No 1 advanced to the Aegon Open quarter-finals in Nottingham.

Konta beat the Belgian 6-4, 6-1 in 75 minutes to reach the last eight, less than 24 hours after the pair had played together – and won – in the doubles tournament.

The top seed was clinical in windy conditions, breaking her opponent five times while also showing no mercy in sending down plenty of winners.

Pleasantries will resume on Friday as they play the next round of the doubles as Konta says it is just part of the game.

“We are all adults, we must deal with that,” she said. “Players come across that situation on tour, it is nothing out of the ordinary, it happens quite often actually.

“Most importantly we look to leave the battle on court and we remain great friends off it and I am looking forward to playing doubles with her again tomorrow.”konta has never got past the last eight in Nottingham, either in its current guise as a WTA event or as an ITF tournament, but she said: “I really enjoy coming back here, this is my sixth year. I love the centre court, it is really intimate and a good size of court so I am looking forward to staying here this week as long as I can.”

Heather Watson, a firstround loser in Nottingham, and Naomi Broady have been handed wildcards into next week’s Aegon Classic in Birminghamwhich has had a host of high-profile withdrawals including Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska and Monica Puig.