JO NO ..NOT AGAIN Error-prone Konta blows another chance

FOR the second Grand Slam in a row, Jo Konta was bounced out by a Czech.

And just like at the French Open last month, it was deja-vu all over again.

Last month in Paris, the British No.1 blazed her way to the semifinals before cracking up against teenage world No.38 Marketa Vondrousova.

At Wimbledon, after brilliantly beating two top-10 players on the e way to the last eight, she e was equally bamboozled d yesterday by world No.54 4

Barbora Strycova.

Playing without the e burden of favouritism, m,

Konta had battered hard-hitting Sloane Stephens and two-time champion Petra Kvitova. But faced by the sly Strycova, who took pace off the ball with slices and twohanded volleys, the world No.18 was driven to distraction.

After going 4-1 up in the first set, Konta crashed and burned with 34 unforced errors. She later apologised for swearing in the second set as she vented her frustration. It was a one-dimensional tactical disaster in front of a def lated Centre Court crowd.

BBC commentator John Mcenroe asked: “Where was the Plan B? Plan B should be not beating yourself. If you start doing it, you have got to pull back b and dig in.”

Konta lost 7-6 6-1, with w the second set a fo f o r ma l i t y. Fo r m e r c h a mp i o n Ma r i o n Bartoli B had claimed Konta K was too mentally t “fragile” to win her h home Grand Slam.

But Konta denied t h e re wa s a link between b being down and a out in Paris and London L caused by the t pressure of expectation

“I don’t have any more of a right to winning these matches than my opponents,” she said. “It’s unfortunate it’s worked out like that in terms of how it looks on paper with the rankings. However, on court or how I feel in the match, no.”

Did it feel like the French Open defeat? “No, actually I thought I played better i n my French semi-final,” she said. Konta made 41 unforced errors against Vondrousova.

“Player-wise, they’re probably a little similar,” she added . “Actually I thought I played better there than in this match.

“I think I couldn’t quite find the level I needed to make it difficult and challenging for the kind of player she is. It’s just unfortunate I couldn’t quite find the level needed to come through.”

Defiance or denial? Take your pick. But she let slip the chance of a semi-final with Serena Williams and the chance of her first Grand Slam with none of the top six seeds left in the competition.

Here and Paris were huge opportunities for r the 28-year-old who has s lost three Major semi- f inal s and now tw o quarter-finals. “The best t I can do is put myself in n the positions, to give e myself the opportunity to o keep going further and d further,” she said. “I mean, n it will either happen or it won’t.

“I’m no less of a person or a player if I don’t get past this point. Equally so if I do.”