British No.1 Johanna Konta has got off to a solid start at the Pan Pacific Open after defeating Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski 6-2, 6-0, in the first round.
Konta, who is unseeded in this year’s draw, required just 64 minutes to breeze past Dabrowski. Who came through two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw of the tournament earlier this week. Konta was dominant on her serve throughout the match. Winning 96% of her first service points as she didn’t face a single break point. Although the world No.43 refuses to say it was a easy win for her.
“It was a tough match. The scoreline definitely didn’t show the quality of the match.” Said Konta. “She definitely played really well in parts and I had to really raise my level to complete that (the match).”
12 months ago Konta was seeded fourth in the tournament, but a series of mixed results in recent time has resulted in her falling down the rankings. Seeking to regain the consistency in her tennis, the 27-year-old says the key to her latest win was the level of intensity in her shot-making. Against Dabrowski, she won 10 games in a row.
“I think my whole game I had to be tough out there.” Konta explained about her match tactics. “She was playing some great tennis and I had to really focus on competing well during every single point.”
“I just had to accept that she was going to play some good tennis and I was going to play some good tennis.”
Seeking a place in only her fourth quarter-final on the tour this year, Konta will play either Sloane Stephens or Donna Vekic. She is yet to play a competitive match against Stephens, but has a 3-1 winning head-to-head record against Vekic.
Barty battles through
Elsewhere at the tournament, Ashleigh Barty required more than two hours to defeat Coco Vandeweghe 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The Australian world No.17 was broken whilst serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider, but managed to prevail two games later. Converting four out of her 10 break point opportunities as she won 64% of points behind her serve.
Earlier this month Barty won the US Open doubles title with Vandeweghe.
“It’s always difficult playing friends. Especially straight after (the US Open),” Barty said during her on-court interview. “We were both celebrating our victory at the US Open and quickly went home before coming here.
“It’s always tough playing CoCo but I know that we respect each other to play as hard as we can and the best person on the day will come out on top.”
In other matches, Alison Riske dismissed Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-4. Setting up a second round showdown with Garbine Muguruza. Meanwhile, eighth seed Barbora Strýcová defeated Zarina Diyas with the same score.
