A ham and cheese toastie was the reward Johanna Konta gave herself after winning the Sydney International, but it’s her top 10 rivals who could be melting against her fiery form at the Australian Open.
Konta, who did not drop a set the entire tournament in the city of her birth, became the first British woman to win the title since Jo Durie in 1983 with an emphatic 6-4 6-2 victory over world No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
Last year Konta shocked all by reaching the Australian Open semi-finals but on this form, it will surprise few if she features among the final four again, despite being pitted in a draw that could see her face Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old believes she is a smarter player than 12 months ago.
“I have been in a very fortunate position to being in lots of situations between last year, Melbourne, and now,” Konta said.
“I really, in a relatively short space of time, I have experienced a lot, so therefore, I’d like to think that I’ve become a bit wiser, a bit more resilient, and a bit more experienced with situations.
“Still a long, long way to go, and I think every day, for the rest of my career, I will be accumulating more experiences.
“But I definitely am enjoying my journey, enjoying learning, enjoying getting better every day. I try to be a sponge as much as I can.”
Konta barely touches alcohol and stays on a strict diet throughout the year, so celebrating her victory on Friday night was a tame affair for the world No.9.
“I had a ham and cheese toasty, which was amazing,” Konta said.
“And I think my family, though, will accompany me possibly to the hotel or somewhere just to hang out. They’ll have a drink. I’ll have a Coke. Whew.
“I don’t like champagne. No, I don’t actually like much alcohol.”
Konta broke Radwanska’s serve in the first games of both sets, ensuring she took ascendancy in the first and continued her momentum in the second.
The Pole could only praise Konta’s performance.
“She was just playing unbelievable tennis,” Radwanska said.
“From the beginning till the end, and normally you’re thinking on the court that she can’t play like this whole match and it’s gonna be [an] even game or two, that you can go forward because she’s gonna have some worse couple of games. But she didn’t.
“She was just playing whole match so aggressive with pretty much everything in, and I couldn’t do much.
“I think I was playing good. I was really feeling good out there, and from the beginning I was hitting the ball very well, serving good. You know, much better than the first two matches that I was playing here.
“So I couldn’t really say that I did something wrong. She was just playing amazing tennis tonight.
“She just went there. She was playing so aggressive from the first shot. Very deep. I couldn’t do much.”
KONTA’S MARCH
Round one: defeated Rodionova 6-3 6-4
Round of 16: defeated Gavrilova 6-1 6-3
Quarter-final: defeated Kasatkina 6-3 7-5
Semi-final: defeated Bouchard 6-2 6-2
Final: defeated Radwanska 6-4 6-2
0 comments:
Post a Comment