Konta keeps nerve to reach last 16
BRITAIN’S Johanna Konta lifted the curse of the Wimbledon favourite by cruising past Maria Sakkari and into the last 16.
Konta moved top of the billing in the bookies’ estimations on Thursday after previous incumbents Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova had successively failed to justify the tag.
But Konta halted the exodus on Court One as she overcame Sakkari 6-4 6-1 to become the first British woman to make the second week of the singles here since Laura Robson in 2013.
She will face 21st seed Caroline Garcia of France and while Robson had been a surprise runner four years ago, there is now an expectation that Konta can go further.
This was certainly not a vintage performance from the world number seven. Her forehand was often wayward, particularly in the first set, and her serve less potent than usual but it is a sign of Konta’s status now that she still progressed with minimal fuss.
“I’m not particularly aware,” Konta told the BBC, when asked about any growing pressure.
“Everyone is a potential winner here. I’m here to be involved hopefully until the very end but it’s one match at a time. I’m happy to come through today and get ready for a battle coming up next.”
Sakkari, the 21-year-old from Greece, is enjoying a breakthrough season with the help of Andy Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey but she is yet to beat a top-20 player in six attempts and never looked like bucking the trend here.
Garcia, who beat Konta in a finalset tie-break at Indian Wells this year, will offer a tougher test while Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka, with 12 major titles between them, are all still going strong.
But, however optimistic, the favourite tag seemed not to weigh heavy on Konta, who sent two dipping backhands past Sakkari for a first-game break and almost had 3-0 only for her opponent to stem the tide.
Sakkari failed to hit a winner until the sixth game, and even that was an ace, but she was quick around the baseline and seemingly happy to hope for the mistake.