The British No.1, Johanna Konta, progressed into the third round at Eastbourne as she defeated Aleksandra Krunic in straight-sets 6-1, 6-3.
Konta came into this meeting with plenty of match play under her belt. The Brit went on a magical run in Nottingham before eventually losing to Ashleigh Barty in the final, but did not have the same success at the Nature Valley Classic, where she fell in the first round to the eventual champion, Petra Kvitova.
In many ways, losing in the opening round of Birmingham gave Konta that extra preparation she needed leading up to one of her favourite tournaments of the season. Konta was able to focus all her efforts on making a deep run in Eastbourne, where she is defending semi-final points, without having to worry about playing in another tournament at the same time.
Krunic certainly was a tough opponent to open her Eastbourne account. Konta lost a shocker of a match in the first round of the US Open last year to the Serbian, but she very quickly found a way to snuff out any danger when they collided for a second time today in Eastbourne.
Both Konta and Krunic had form behind them. Krunic had claimed the first title of her career by winning the grass court event in s-Hertogenbosch and had not lost a match on the grass this season, but Konta was able to nullify a lot of the Serbian’s strengths early in the match.
Konta took the first break of the match in the fourth game of the first set. Her return game was working very well for large stages of the match as she often played close to the lines and gave her opponent no chance or time to react to the bludgeoning impact of her groundstrokes. Konta faced some problems on serve in the next game, but eventually ran away with the set to claim it 6-1.
At the end of the first set, Krunic decided to take a medical time-out for a knee injury that seemed to be hindering her movement throughout much of the match. Krunic’s game is not only built around the tools she has to work with in terms of her variety of shots, but also her unbelievable footwork and low centre of gravity from the back of the court and the injury really prevented her from playing to her full potential.
The standout features to Konta’s game were her attention throughout the match and the focus she played each and every ball with. Konta clearly respected Krunic and her ability to produce quality tennis and knew she needed to maintain a high level of focus for the entire match. Konta also volleyed incredibly well. Volleying is usually a weakness of the Brit’s game, but Konta has been working hard to improve and has made great progress in this area of her game.
Konta’s mindset and level of tennis both seem to be in a great place at present. She’s returned to a surface she loves and is playing in a part of the world that she enjoys and the quality of her tennis reflects this. The British No.1 analysed her level against Krunic today and looked forward to a third meeting against Wozniacki tomorrow.
“I think overall I’m just happy I played quite a consistent match. I think my approach to how I wanted to play my points and how I wanted to construct them was quite clear and I kept sticking to that when it didn’t go my way, it was quite tricky out there, it was pretty gusty. She can play well and she can play well on this surface, having just won s-Hertogenbosch. Overall I’m just happy to keep my level as I wanted it.”
“I think I’m definitely looking to move forward a bit more. This surface can also accentuate it a bit, however looking forward to really taking advantage of that side of my game. It is something I feel I can do well and the more I do it, the better I will become at doing it as well.”
“I mean, tomorrow is a great opportunity for me to play one of the best players in the world. It is what I want to be doing. It is the players I want to be playing against. I think it is a great chance for me to keep raising my level and do the best that I can against her. Both of the matches were a lot closer than the scoreline. She’s a very tough competitor. I think I’ll just go out and do what I look to do in every match that I play and that is to look to dictate and that is looking to move forward and be brave. I wouldn’t say it is always about match-ups. I think I’m going to play tomorrow on tomorrow’s challenge.”
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