Konta opens 2018 with battling win over Keys in Brisbane but Watson crashes out
there are some huge positives to take from the game,” said Scotland’s newest cap.
“We broke them a lot. Probably more than they did us. It was good to see. Our defence was good. It was only 6-0 with about 20 minutes to go. It’s something we’ve prided ourselves on all year. It’s something we can take away from the game.
“We’re still moving in the right direction. We put a really good effort in against a very good Glasgow side. We were more physical than we used to be and we didn’t take a step back. A fair reflection of the game would maybe have been 12-0. It was a shame they scored at the end but never mind, we move forward.” British No 1 Johanna Konta got the taste for victory again as she began 2018 with an impressive win over Madison Keys at the Brisbane International.
Konta had a dreadful end to the 2017 season, not winning since August and suffering from injury, but she put that
Burleigh is sure that Edinburgh will address the failings which rendered them scoreless at Scotstoun and expects a different story at Myreside on Friday.
“We probably needed to hold on to the ball a little bit more,” said the 31-year-old. “We were probably guilty of getting down there and making nice breaks but throwing the ball away at important times. I think we’ll look back at those missed opportunities.
“At half-time we spoke about it. There must have been about ten occasions where we weren’t quite sighting the player. We’ll fix that, it’s an easy fix.” right on the opening day of the new year with a come-frombehind 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 success over the American.
It was the toughest firstround draw possible for Konta against a player ranked 19th in the world and she lost the first set by dropping her serve at 4-5. Playing her first match under new coach Michael Joyce, who used to work with Maria Sharapova, Konta began to get on top and a single break midway through the second set was enough for her to level matters.
She then took Keys’ serve in the opening game of the decider and saw it out comfortably to end a run of five successive defeats, going back to the Cincinnati Open in August.
Konta, pictured, said on BT Sport: “It was my first match in quite a while and it was a tough first round. Madison is a great player. She has a big game so when my chances came I had to take them.” Heather Watson, however, is out after a straight sets defeat by Anett Kontaveit, going down 6-0, 6-3.
Watson was only playing in the firstround match after gaining a lucky loser place following her defeat in qualifying.
After losing the opening eight games she was never in this match, the Estonian wrapping up victory for the loss of just three games.
Mischa Zverev eased to victory over Australian qualifier John-patrick Smith in the men’s singles. The eighth seed broke Smith eight times on his way to a 6-4, 7-5 win in 88 minutes.
Matthew Ebden gave the home crowd something to shout about, though, as he beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-2 to book an all-australian clash in the second round with Nick Kyrgios. Ryan Harrison set up a meeting with second seed Andy Murray by overcoming Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Meanwhile, world No 1 Simona Halep beat American Naomi Gibbs 6-4, 6-1 at the Shenzhen Open and looked in good fettle as she builds up to this month’s Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova also kicked off her year with an easy 6-3, 6-0 victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu.