It’s no catastrophe insists Konta as she falls to lucky loser Pera
● Ninth seed tipped to be a contender in Melbourne makes surprise early exit from first major
Johanna Konta insisted her Australian Open loss to lucky loser Bernarda Pera was not a “massive catastrophe” as she contemplated an early flight home.
The ninth seed had been tipped as one of the contenders for the title in a wide open field after reaching the semifinals and quarter-finals in the last two years. Konta looked in good form in her opening win over Madison Brengle but struggled to find her game in very hot conditions at Melbourne Park and came up against an inspired opponent, who claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Pera, a Croatian-born American ranked 123, had never even played in a grand slam tournament let alone won a match before arriving in Australia and appeared to be going home after losing to Viktorija Golubic in the final round of qualifying, only to be given a second chance when Margarita Gasparyan withdrew.
There was no doubt the 23-year-old played well above her ranking but this was a poor performance from Konta and another sign of the anxiety issues that have stemmed from the five-match losing sequence with which she finished 2017. Konta said: “I think she played very inspired and I didn’t quite do as much as I wanted.
“I think in the points I did okay, and I think I stayed quite strong. But I don’t think I did enough with my service games, and I don’t think I did enough with my returns.
“It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m still taking good stuff from this. I don’t feel, by any means, it’s a massive catastrophe. I play every event to be there until the end, so I definitely don’t want to be going home this early. But I think in terms of building myself back up again and then playing the way I want to play, I think I keep moving forward.”
Top-seed Simona Halep cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Eugenie Bouchard to advance to the third round.
Romania’s Halep gained some revenge from the last – and only – time the pair met in a major. At Wimbledon in 2014, the Canadian beat Halep in the semi-finals before advancing to the final, where she lost to Petra Kvitova.
Her strong run that year – semi-finals at the Australian and French Opens before Wimbledon – took Bouchard to No 5 in the world but she has since slid back to No 112.
Maria Sharapova avenged her US Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova to move into the third round. Latvian Sevastova halted Sharapova’s grand slam comeback in the fourth round in New York last summer but this time it was the Russian who prevailed 6-1, 7-6 (7/4). Sharapova will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the third round.
“I think she played very inspired and I didn’t quite do as much as I wanted. It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m still taking good stuff from this” JOHANNA KONTA