On Day 3 of the Aegon International in Eastbourne, British No. 1 player Johanna Konta faces Petra Kvitova in the third round of the event. Konta came through Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets, while Kvitova got past Timea Babos in their respective second round matches.
Konta and Kvitova have met just the once before, with the Czech player leading the head-to-head 1-0. That singular meeting came at the US Open last year, where Kvitova ended the fantastic run to the last 16 for the improving Konta.
The Australian-born Konta is having the best of twelve months that she could have asked for and she attributes that to her refreshed perspective in tennis at this stage of her career. A breakthrough Grand Slam result at the US Open was a sign of what was to follow as she achieved her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open earlier this year. In Melbourne, Konta claimed her first Top 10 win of 2016 to get the better of Venus Williams and from that match forward she didn’t look back. The significance of the third round win over Denis Allertova cannot be emphasized enough as she avenged the heartbreaking three set loss to Allertova at Roland Garros the previous year.
That seemed to be one of the main issues for Konta as she developed as a player on the WTA Tour: the ability to come through the very close matches. Initially she put herself in great positions in matches but couldn’t get over the line and get that important breakthrough result; that changed at the Australian Open this year. The outstanding result at the Australian Open gives Konta the evidence that with hard work comes results and in a results-driven sport it’s of extreme importance.
The transition from being the “hunter” to the “hunted” hasn’t been easy for Konta, but with the additional experience of seeing what she is capable of at the highest level of our sport it may just support her in gaining that first ever win at Wimbledon this year.
The prospect of a meeting with the two-time Wimbledon champion is something that Johanna Konta looks forward to as she explained following her second round match win.
“Quite honestly, I haven’t really thought about it. I have just been eating and stretching. I will have a chat with my coach later about the match for tomorrow. But I’m really looking forward to it. She plays incredibly well on grass. She’s a two-time Wimbledon champion, so I think her results speak for themselves. Yeah, I’m happy that I get to play against such a high-quality player, and hopefully will be having a good match. I will be looking to just give my best and we will see where that takes me.”
Further on, Konta was questioned what she had to do differently to turn the head-to-head around and get her first win over Kvitova.
“I will have the same attention as every match going out and that’s really looking to impose myself. I mean, she has a very aggressive game. She serves well, she hits her shots very clean and big and well. I think I’ll definitely have to have my legs on me and really scramble to stay in point when I need to but also look to take my opportunities whenever they arise.”
Konta looks to win back-to-back matches on a grass court event for the first time since Eastbourne last year.
Main Photo:
