Konta still on course for a first home title
JOHANNA KONTA overcame a second-set wobble against Australia’s Ashleigh Barty to claim a 6-3, 7-5 victory and reach the semi-finals of the Aegon Open in Nottingham.
Cheered on by the home crowd, the British No1 and world No8 eased through the first set but fell a break behind in the second before upping her game to avoid a decider.
“I only had one little dip but I tried to stay strong. I was able to raise my game,” said Konta, who has not dropped a set in her search for a first WTA title on home soil.
“It was definitely a nice little comeback. I worked very hard to get myself back into that second set and stop Ashleigh from running away with it.”
Konta won a round at Wimbledon for the first time last year after four opening-round defeats but given her rapid rise up the rankings, including the title in Miami this year, she will be expecting a long run at the All England Club.
She faces Magdalena Rybarikova, the world No117 from Slovakia, in her semi-final today.
DAN EVANS and Juan Martin del Potro have both withdrawn from next week’s Aegon Championships at Queen’s – but James Ward has been given a wild card for the event.
British No3 Evans faces a race to be fit for Wimbledon after suffering a calf injury at the Surbiton Trophy last week.
He had to retire during his quarter-final against Dustin Brown and has pulled out of this week’s Aegon Open in Nottingham.
Fellow Briton Ward was a semifinalist at Queen’s in 2011 but has fallen out of the world’s top 1,000.
Former US Open champion Del Potro is still struggling with the groin problem that hampered him at the French Open.
ALJAZ BEDENE has been knocked out of the Ricoh Open in the quarter-finals by fourth seed Gilles Muller.
British No4 Bedene was a break up in the final set in the Netherlands but lost five of the last six games in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 defeat.
I was able to raise my game