Venus Williams has become the latest seed to fall in the women’s draw at the Australian Open following a straight sets loss to Britain’s Johanna Konta.
During the match, Williams struggled with her serve against the Brit after dropping her service five times. In contrast Konta was more consistent on her serve, facing no break points in six out of her nine service games.
There was also speculation of Williams suffering from some sort of injury with her left thigh being heavily strapped. Regardless of the issue, the 35-year-old proved no match for the world No.47 as Konta cruised to the 6-4, 6-2, win after only 80 minutes on the court. The win for Konta is a surprise, but far from a shock after her performance last year. At the Wuhan Open, the Australian-born Brit defeated Andrea Petkovic and Simona Halep to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament before losing coincidentally to Williams.
Following her fourth win over a top-10 player, Konta admitted that she didn’t think that a shock win over Williams was on the cards.
“When the draw came out and I saw who I was playing, I thought, ‘OK, hope I stay out there for more than an hour.’” Konta said.
At the age of 35, Williams is starting to approach the final stages of her illustrious career. Konta was asked during her press conference if Williams age was potentially a factor in the match. A suggestion which was swiftly dismissed by the Brit.
“It’s irrelevant how old she is because she’s such a champion with so much experience and knowledge,” said Konta.
“Even if she’s playing with one leg out there, you’ve got to really take care of things on your own because she’s an incredible player. I have all the respect for her in the world.”
After losing the match, Williams failed to turn up for her press conference. According to regulations, if a player misses their conference without a legitimate reason, they will face a fine of up to $20,000. It is not the first time that Williams has snubbed a press conference. Last year at the French Open she was fined $3000 for failing to speak to the media after losing to Sloane Stephens.
Elsewhere on day 2 at the tournament there was better news for other seeded players. 11th seed Timea Bacsinszky edged her way past Czech world No.98 Katerina Siniaková 6-3, 7-5. Ana Ivanovic, the 20th seed, cruised past Australian wildcard Tammy Patterson 6-2, 6-3. Finally, world No.32 Sabine Lisicki remained unbroken throughout her 6-4, 6-4, win against Petra Cetkovska.
