Konta into Wimbledon 3rd round
Print Edition
BRITAIN’S biggest hope for a women’s champion at Wimbledon worked her way into the third round yesterday.
Johanna Konta trailed early but managed to come back and hang on for a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-8 victory over Donna Vekic on Centre Court.
“It’s a nice feeling not to have to keep going out there,” Konta said. “We were out there a long time and both of us battled incredibly hard. Whoever was going to draw the short straw was going to be hurting.”
Konta, seeded sixth, is in the third round at the All England Club for the first time in six appearances. She reached the final at a grasscourt warm-up tournament in Birmingham last month, but lost to Vekic.
“I think I overall trusted my game a bit more this time,” said Konta, who is trying to become the first British woman to win the Wimbledon title since Virginia Wade in 1977. “I’m definitely here with the intention of wanting to be a part of the event for the full two weeks.”
Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion who lost in the first round at Wimbledon, is dating Vekic and was at Centre Court watching the match.
When the Wimbledon gates opened yesterday morning, the race was on to get the best spot on Mount Murray.
The hill next to No. 1 Court at Wimbledon, formerly known as Henman Hill and also referred to as Murray Mound, was a coveted spot for Day 3 at the All England Club because Konta and Andy Murray were scheduled to play their second-round matches on Centre Court.
Thousands of fans on the grounds and without tickets to the main stadium often gather on the hill to watch the action on a giant TV screen.
The area was named Henman Hill in honor of Tim Henman, another British player but one who never was able to win the title. The nickname shifted to Murray when he came on the scene and eventually ended the country’s 77-year wait for a homegrown men’s winner when he won the title in 2013.
Following Konta’s win, Murray was playing Dustin Brown.
Earlier, new mum Victoria Azarenka continued her comeback bid for Wimbledon glory by reaching the third round.
Former world No. 1 Azarenka, playing her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth to first child Leo in December, knocked out Russian 15th seed Elena Vesnina.
The 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion, in her fourth match back, won 6-3, 6-3, taking her record over the Russian to 8-0 without dropping a set. The Belarussian, 27, could become the first mother to win the Wimbledon singles since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.
“Travelling is a little stressful for me, travelling with a baby. I want to make sure that everything is okay. But overall, it’s just great. It’s really fun that I’m able to go home and spend time with my son,” she said.
Azarenka next faces British wildcard Heather Watson who also upset the form book. The world No. 102 knocked out Latvian 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets.
Other women’s winners yesterday included 8th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova and Ana Conjuh. For the men, 9th seed Kei Nishikori, 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 16th seed Gilles Muller and 24th seed Sam Querrey advanced.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
