Johanna Konta was sent crashing out of the Nature Valley International at the hands of World No.2 Caroline Wozniacki in a three-set match 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Going into the match, Konta had a bit of a mental edge in terms of their previous meetings. The British No.1 had beaten Wozniacki in the 3rd round of the Australian Open and in the final of Miami last year, which was where Konta struck gold in winning her biggest title to date.
Konta was the first of the two to grow into the match. Striking with enough pace and accuracy off both sides to really cause Wozniacki problems from the baseline, Konta took the first break of the match in the opening game. The Brit knew that to stand a chance in this particular match-up that she had to play to her strengths and go for her shots and had to leave the court with no real regrets. Playing safely and going into her shell would encourage Wozniacki to grind out the points and in those sort of contests Wozniacki really comes into her own. Essentially, Konta had to play the tennis that put her into the World’s Top 10, but also show the improvements she has made in the forecourt. She mostly did just that in the first set and broke on two occasions to seal the set 6-4, but the 2009 Eastbourne champion would not go away easily.
The two were embroiled in two very long games at the beginning of the 2nd set, but it was the World No.2 Wozniacki that was able to get both of those games and that really set her up for a very positive second set. The key to Wozniacki’s game when she is feeling on form is her ability to maintain an unbelievable balance from the baseline, but also how she can force the more aggressive player into error. This is how she reached the top of the WTA rankings and is how Wozniacki was able to win 6 of the next 7 games to win the set 6-1.
Konta lost lots of confidence in this match-up. She second guessed her shots in a lot of the long exchanges, but was also coming up short whenever she had the chance to finish the points off on the second ball of the rally. When Konta starts to miss those kind of chances then the match really can unravel for her. Wozniacki is not blessed with unbelievable power, but when she ups her first serve percentage that gives her the big opportunity to step inside the court and tackle that simple put-away shot. For Wozniacki it is not about the brutal aggressiveness of her groundstrokes, but it is about setting herself up to take advantage of the ball that puts her in those aggressive positions of the court. She did that very well in today’s match.
There were three breaks of serve in the middle of the 3rd set, where Wozniacki came through with a 3-2 lead, but there were some really close games between the two in the decider. Konta claimed a big game at 4-2 down, where she saved three break points and it started to look like we might see a last hoorah from Konta, but Wozniacki was resilient and confident on the day, which is how she managed to get through and return to the Eastbourne quarter-finals. The Dane excelled in the things that she does well, while Konta lacked belief in her skill set when the match was tight, which is why there were some rash decision-making in terms of shot selection in key moments.
The 37 unforced errors from Konta really hurt her today and when Wozniacki makes just 21 and balances it out with 22 winners, it is a tall order for any aggressive player to find a way to win.
Despite the loss, Konta felt there was very little to separate the two players over the course of the match and the Brit also talked about her satisfaction of the level of her tennis approaching the third Grand Slam of the year.
“I think she started playing a bit better. I think I might have taken some pace off my ball, which also let her in that much more in using her strengths, and that’s her legs and how well she’s able to move and run down balls. So I think that was just a little bit of shift in momentum and in the dynamic that way. But there was a lot of close games in that second set, so there was a 6-1 set, but there wasn’t much in it for it to be a bit closer.”
“I’m exactly where I should be. I don’t think I — I don’t set an ideal of what I think I need to be or how I think I should be or feel or play. I think there is a lot of other things that play a factor in how a player does. I don’t know what my final destination is. I don’t know when I retire what will be my peak performance.”
Konta’s tennis has been under extreme scrutiny in the last year. She’s lost more matches than what she had grown accustomed to when she made her rise into the World’s Top 10, but Konta feels that her current level of tennis will always be measured against what she produced in 2016 and during Wimbledon last year.
“Well, yeah, I mean, it’s interesting, the last couple years puts things in perspective a little bit, as well, because I did exceptionally well the last couple years, and it’s always going to be measured up to how I did then. But I think coming off the challenges end of last year and really not winning a match after Cincinnati, I had to work very hard on finding that competitive edge again and finding that strength within me to really be able to fight hard and fight the right way. I think I have been consistently doing that better and better as the season has gone on. I think I’m becoming tougher and tougher in matches.”
After today’s losses in singles and doubles, Konta will now have extra time to prepare for Wimbledon where she will be defending semi-final points from last year.
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