Ninth seed Johanna Konta allayed any fears about her hip injury, producing a fine display in defeating Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open. The Brit, a semifinalist in Melbourne two years ago, came out aggressive and never looked back in the 66-minute match.
After pair of holds to open the match, it was the Brit who made the first breakthrough. After wasting the first of two break points, her slice backhand down the line gave her a 2-1 lead and she was off and running.
Brengle doesn’t have much on her shots and Konta made her pay with her power off of both sides. At 4-2, the ninth seed again ground out a long game, breaking for a 5-2 lead with a ripping forehand down the line.
Surprisingly, Brengle was able to muster a break of her own to stay in the set, but her own serve, often barely topping 80 miles per hour due to a rare medical condition in her arm, was breached again, the Brit breaking to love when Brengle’s backhand, her best shot, flew well wide as Konta took the opening set.
The second set was much more authoritative from the 2016 semifinalist as she held to love twice and again wore her lower-ranked opponent down. Another long game, another break for Konta as she zipped a forehand behind Brengle for a 3-1 lead.
The finish line was in sight and Brengle’s already fading hopes were completely extinguished when the Brit hammered another powerful passing shot past her, the American seemingly caught flatfooted, for a 5-1 lead.
With how dominant Konta was on serve, it was surprising to see Brengle save three match points, but she is a fighter and she made Konta earn the last game. On her fourth match point, the Brit came forward and drew one final error to clinch a most satisfying victory.
Konta will face another American in the second round, Bernarda Pera. The 22-year-old lefty got in the draw only hours before play started as a lucky loser when Margarita Gasparyan withdrew. She doesn’t appear to present too many problems to the Brit, who will feed off of this confidence-boosting performance as she looks ahead to tougher challenges.
