Reborn Konta falls at the final hurdle
JO KONTA takes her off-season holidays in Rome and the Eternal City certainly seems to agree with her, even though she lost yesterday in her surprise appearance in the Italian Open final. The British No 1 went down 6-3, 6-4 to world No 7 Karolina Pliskova, while Rafael Nadal scored an eventually emphatic win over Novak Djokovic in the men’s final. Konta will head to next week’s French Open much fortified by their stay at the Foro Italico. She beat two US Open champions plus Dutch clay court ace Kiki Bertens, and has propelled her ranking up to No 26 while enriching her bank balance to the tune of £225,000. She overtakes Kyle Edmund as GB’s highest ranked singles player and it will all be enough to get her seeded at the French Open where — strangely on this evidence — she has never won a main draw match. The likelihood is that she will also be seeded at Wimbledon. ‘I’m super pleased with how I’ve been progressing this year and improving with every match,’ said Konta, who is looking closer to the level that once carried her into the top 10. ‘To make a final here, this is my second biggest final before Miami so this is a big moment for me. I enjoyed my week here. I love coming to Rome and I even come here on holiday as well.’ Konta may not be among the favourites to win the French Open, unlike Pliskova, but she belongs to the group of 20 or so women who could go very deep in the Paris Grand Slam. In the final, Konta started slowly against a player whose potent first serve was landing in more than eight times out of 10. Down an early break she had a great chance to break back at 3-5 but missed a forehand with the court wide open. The second set turned on a lengthy seventh game at 3-3 when she was broken, and this time Pliskova was more assured in serving the match out. ‘There’s rarely a rhythm to a match against her,’ Konta said. ‘She plays with big shots, quite flat, and big serves. It can feel sometimes you’re fighting an uphill battle. That was the case today.’ In the men’s final Nadal managed to slightly erase the memory of the painful thrashing he received at the Australian Open by beating Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 to claim his 34th Masters title. It was a timely morale booster heading into the usual defence of his French Open title, as he had failed to win any prior events in his clay court campaign. It looked like it could have been even better when he registered his first ever 6-0 ‘bagel’ set against his great rival. Djokovic fought back in the second set like his life depended on it and that may prove significant, as this might otherwise have been a deflating episode as he seeks a fourth straight Grand Slam. The Serb will be reassured by knowing that, due to some absurd scheduling in Rome, his legs were not as strong for this clash as they will be over the Parisian fortnight.