AUSTRALIAN OPEN
HAYLEY MILNE
JOHANNA KONTA will be fit to play in the Australian Open but has dealt a massive blow to Great Britain’s Fed Cup chances by announcing she will not represent her country in the competition this year.
Konta is Britain’s best female player by some distance and has won her last 11 singles matches in Fed Cup, the most recent two to help Britain to victory over Kazakhstan last April.
That saw Britain finally promoted back to World Group level after 26 years, although a subsequent revamp of the competition means they must win a play-off against Slovakia in Bratislava next month to book a spot at the inaugural finals week in Budapest in April. Konta’s absence will make the Slovakia tie extremely difficult but the world No.13 insisted she had the blessing of GB captain Anne Keothavong. “I had a really good chat with Anne in November and so everyone who is important to me does know about this decision and has been really supportive and on board with it,” she said. “It’s kind a combination of things: it’s an Olympic year, I’m looking to schedule things slightly differently of for the longevity of my body and to be able to come back in following years and hopefully play more Fed Cup.”
The 28-year-old revealed last month that she had struggled with a niggling knee problem for much of 2019, cutting short what had been a brilliant season after the US Open.
She has only played one match since, losing to Barbora Strycova in Brisbane last week before withdrawing from the WTA tournament in Adelaide to prioritise practice.
She said: “When I left London I was still coming out of my last stage of rehabbing the knee and what we decided was best was for me to be able to get some more court time, some more practice sets.
“So we’re here and I’ve had a good week here and I’m looking forward to getting started.
“The worst thing that can happen is that I lose and I go home and prepare for the rest of the season. So it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
Britain could also be without Katie Boulter for the Slovakia tie. Boulter’s win over Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas clinched promotion but came at the considerable cost of a back injury that ended up ruling her out for six months.
The Australian Open draw could have been significantly kinder to Boulter, who will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina on Tuesday, while Konta is in a difficult section and starts against Tunisian Ons Jabeur on Monday.
Meanwhile, Harriet Dart made it four British women in the main draw with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Giulia GattoMonticone in the final round of qualifying.
HEATHER WATSON’S excellent run at the Hobart International came to an end with a semi-final defeat by third seed Elena Rybakina.
Watson began her campaign in qualifying and produced her best victory for two-and-a-half years by beating top seed Elise Mertens in the last eight.
She gave Kazakh Rybakina a real battle as well but came up just short, losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, after two hours and 16 minutes.
The run will see Watson climb from 101 in the rankings to 75 and she will head to Melbourne, where she faces Kristyna Pliskova in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, in good spirits.