It’s Wimbledon woe for Konta as British No.1 makes an early exit
JOHANNA Konta’s Wimbledon ended with a whimper in a straight-sets defeat by Dominika Cibulkova.
The British number one is now in danger of dropping out of the world’s top 50 after a chastening 6-3 6-4 second-round loss.
Konta was ranked fourth in the world after her run to the semi-finals at last year’s championships, but her form has nosedived since and that slump continued on Centre Court.
In fairness it was a tough secondround draw for Konta.
Slovakian Cibulkova would have been seeded 32nd, and therefore not in Konta’s sights just yet, had Wimbledon not decided to grant Serena Williams a place among the seeds.
Yet Konta has beaten Cibulkova in their two previous meetings, both on hard courts, and should have have had the tools to dispatch her on the grass.
But Konta was never allowed to find her rhythm, with Cibulkova simply not allowing her to settle.
Earlier, Britain’s Katie Boulter lost 6-3 6-4 to Japan’s Naomi Osaka, while Angelique Kerber was staring defeat in the face, but came back to beat Claire Lui 3-6 6-2 6-4.
Ashleigh Barty came out on top in a clash of former Wimbledon junior champions with Eugenie Bouchard. The Australian, who won the girls’ title in 2011, beat the 2012 champion 6-4 7-5 on Court Three to move into the third round.
In the men’s event, Rafael Nadal was tested by Mikhail Kukushkin but did not drop a set in a 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory, while Nick Kyrgios came through in relatively straightforward fashion against Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3 6-4 7-5.
Novak Djokovic needed treatment on a thigh injury during his 6-1 6-2 6-3 victory over Horacio Zeballos.
The Serbian, seeded 12, suffered the injury midway through the third set and had to ask for a medical time-out.
But Marin Cilic suffered a shock second-round Wimbledon exit as he slipped to a galling two-day defeat against Argentinian Guido Pella.
Cilic was cruising in his two-set lead when showers interrupted play on Wednesday evening and ended up losing 3-6 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7/3) 7-5.