British No.1 Johanna Konta required almost three hours to get through her opening match at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The 2016 semi-finalist battled past home player Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (10-7), in the blistering conditions at Melbourne Park. Konta, who is unseeded in the draw, fired 16 aces and 47 winners past her opponent. However, she could only convert one out of her nine break point opportunities against Tomljanovic.
“I’m feeling a little shaky on the legs, it’s hot out here, very humid. I’m looking forward to getting inside and starting the recovery process.” Konta told British Eurosport afterwards.
“I am really happy to have come through that. She played some incredible tennis and sometimes I had to hang tough there.”
Besides some stiff resistance from across the court, Konta had to also contend with the weather with temperatures expected to peak at 33C in the city. Despite being born in Sydney, the world No.38 admitted that she found it tough to deal with the conditions.
“When the wind stops, it’s like you’re in a steam room more than anything.” She said.
“You try to put it at the back of your mind as much as possible. Everyone is going through the same thing.”
The win is a case of sweet revenge for Konta. Earlier in the month she suffered a straight sets loss to the Australian in Brisbane.
Following a turbulent second half of 2018, the 27-year-old is hoping to get back on track in the near future. Konta has only managed to win back-to-back matches in two out of the past 10 tournaments since August. During that time, she opted to enlist the help of new coach Dimitri Zavialoff.
Awaiting the Brit in the second round will be two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza dropped only five games during her 6-2, 6-3, win over China’s Zheng Saisai. Hitting 23 winners to 18 unforced errors and breaking Saisai’s serve four times in the match.
Pliskova through
Elsewhere in the draw, former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova made a winning start. The Czech seventh seed dismissed Karolina Muchova, 6-3, 6-2. Pliskova, who recently won the Brisbane International, is bidding to reach the quarter-final stage in Melbourne for the third consecutive time. She will take on America’s Madison Brengle next.
“I think I started really well today,” Pliskova said during her on-court interview. “I was feeling great, even in the warm-up!”
“”After the off-season, everyone’s looking forward to these tournaments in Australia. I’m always happy here; I don’t know why, but I always play good tennis here, and the atmosphere is always really great. I’m always happy to come back.” She added.
There was bitter disappointment for world No.10 Daria Kasatkina. The Russian lost 12 consecutive games as she crashed out 6-3, 6-0, to Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky. Her error-stricken performance featured nine double faults and 24 unforced errors.
Carla Suarez Navarro, Anastasija Sevastova and Camila Giorgi also progressed into the second round.
