Konta makes progress at Birmingham after wobble
Johanna Konta continued her impressive start to the grass-court season by advancing to the second round of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.
The British No1, who was beaten in the Aegon Open final in Nottingham on Sunday, overcame a second-set wobble to record a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko. After a comfortable first set, Konta was in danger of going the distance when she trailed 5-2 in the second before winning three games in a row and sealing the match on a tie-break.
There was also an injury scare, which she declined to discuss in detail after the match, but Konta’s preparations for Wimbledon next month remain in good shape. She said: “I felt actually it throughout the whole match. But I felt I stayed in each point quite well.”
In the second round Konta will face big-serving Coco Vandeweghe, who beat fellow American Christina Mchale 6-4 6-2. The pair have not yet met on the WTA Tour but Konta knows she is in for another tough battle, with Vandeweghe having reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon two years ago and the fourth round last year.
“She’s a very big player,” Konta said. “She’s got a lot of firepower, a lot of weapons. And I know she enjoys the grass.”
Petra Kvitova marked her return to her beloved grass with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova. The two-time Wimbledon champion took a wild card into the tournament after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from the serious hand injuries she suffered when she was stabbed by an intruder six months ago. Kvitova made her comeback at the French Open, partly so she could concentrate on tennis when the grass season started. “It feels different,” she said. “I’m happy that I have everything done with the media and the pressure and everything with the comeback in Paris. So I’m glad that now I can focus on tennis, especially on the grass.”
Kvitova, who next meets Britain’s Naomi Broady, was content with her performance and the condition of her hand. “We still have days off to work on my hand, and it was very good today.”
Meanwhile, Roger Federer sent a resounding message about his Wimbledon chances by swatting aside Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-1 in just 52 minutes in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.