Johanna Konta’s winning streak came to an end against the American at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia Thursday. The fifth seed had nothing but troubles that she couldn’t sort out against
Venus Williams who took a three-set victory 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 on Corte Centrale at Foro Italico in Rome. It brought an end to a three match skid against the world number six and a spot in the quarterfinals for an eighth time
The Brit had a three-match winning streak against the veteran superstar since they last played one another at Miami. It was prior to Konta locking down a third WTA title and the second that led to one against Williams. While the path to the final was still halfway away, the American wanted to end the luck of her 27-year-old opponent. The Birthday girl got the day off Wednesday to celebrate her turning another age, but with another meeting against one of her idols growing up the world number six would bring the same strategy or better to succeed.
She found herself trailing instead as Williams began service with a strong response followed by dictating the moves of her opponent in the second. It was clear that Konta had trouble getting up to speed on the offense side of her game resulting in a 3-0 hole. It took a lot of fight in the fourth for the world number six to capture her first service hold winning it on deuce. While she avoided earning a bagel, Williams was still in control of her end taking a 4-1 rout.
The ninth seed was completely in control of her destiny as she fired away at Konta who was clearly out of options to save the set that was completed in 31 minutes. The final two games went swiftly with the former number one rushing to a double set point that ended on a winner from the American. It was the tenth she put towards Konta in what was a well-rounded game from Williams who averaged above 65 percent on the service while minimizing the unforced errors.
A majority of the British star’s game suffered as she had over a dozen unforced errors and a service game at 44 percent. During the break, Konta’s coach came out to calm his player down and believe that she could find a way to turn the match around.
She opened with a strong service hold despite the constant adversity from Williams who answered with a hold of her own in the second game. Konta found a way to dictate the pace in the set holding once more before putting pressure on Williams while she had the chances in front of her. The two remained on serve but it was the fifth seed still out front after seven games.
She almost had a grip on the first break of the set but Williams avoided losing control on serve and forced deuce to play. She did her best to gain the advantage but it was a tug of war to keep it. After four breaks, it was Konta who captured the break looking very much improved and had a chance to lock down a set to her name. Brisk work on service in the ninth allowed Konta to level the match at one set apiece with her carrying all the momentum. Her first serve reached 84 percent while recording 13 winners and totaling 38 points.
The third saw them both even on the score but the opportunity to dictate was still alive for either one to take point. By the third game it was Williams who had the edge on Konta and never looked back. She found a weakness in her opponent’s game that allowed her to edge away and take a 4-1 lead with a break in hand. She made it two on a double break of Konta who had very little response on the hard returns of Williams. The former number one was in cruise control serving for the match in the seventh where she nailed down a fifth ace. Another winner gave her a double match point before a final winner gave her the win and a spot in the quarterfinals after 1 hour and 49 minutes.
The American’s start to finish attitude clearly left the chance for a 50th title well in play but the challenges would continue to stand in her way as she’d await the winner between Julia Goerges and Garbine Muguruza on Friday.
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