Konta unlikely champion after triumphing in Miami
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JOHANNA Konta lofted a lob off the baseline for a winner on championship point, waited for instant replay to confirm the call and even then hesitated to celebrate the biggest title of her 11-year career.
“To be honest, I actually couldn’t kind of believe it was over,” she said with a grin.
Seeded 10th, Konta was an unlikely champion, but the Australian-born Briton beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday’s final at the Miami Open in Florida.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will renew their rivalry in the men’s final.
Konta, a late bloomer at 25, improved to 19-3 this year and will climb to a career-high No. 7 next week. She was the first British woman to reach a Key Biscayne final, a tournament she was unable to qualify for just two years ago.
“On paper it looks like a quick turnaround,” she said. “But it definitely has been a lot of years and a long time coming.”
Konta was the more aggressive player in the final and finished with 33 winners, compared with eight for the 12th-seeded Wozniacki. Konta showed her versatility on the final point, drawing Wozniacki to the net with a drop shot and then floating a lob off the back of the line for the clincher.
Konta received US$1.18 million. Her other titles came at Sydney this year and Stanford in 2016.
“She’s very aggressive,” Wozniacki said. “She takes the ball early and stresses the opponent.”
Both finalists benefited from the absence of eight-time champion Serena Williams, who missed the tournament because of a knee injury.
Nadal and Federer’s first encounter took place in the round of 32 at Key Biscayne in 2004. Now comes the 37th match between the two champions, and the third this year. Federer beat Nadal in the Australian Open final in January, and in the fourth round at Indian Wells two weeks ago.
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic and two-time time champion Andy Murray skipped the tournament because of elbow injuries, which diluted the draw.
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