Johanna Konta faced adversity from a youthful contender but made it through to the semifinals at the AEGON Open in Nottingham Friday afternoon. The top ranked British star held off a second set push from Australia’s Ashleigh Barty to hang on to her straight sets win 6-3, 7-5 on Centre Court at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. The Eastbourne native had her opponent nervous in the pressure points of the match that advanced her further than ever before at the tournament.
This was a first time meeting between the two players but a second time back in the quarterfinals of the open. Barty made it to this point last year before bowing out while Konta lost the year before. With one of them guaranteed a spot in the semifinals, it left the notion of that history quite apparent but it came down to who fared better so far in the grass season.
By the first few games, the number one seed led the way with a three game winning streak before Barty gained her second victory. Despite the slow start, she had her moments of finding a footing on serve but the control remained in the hands of Konta who held a two game between herself and the 21 year old. As the set moved deeper and closer to a conclusion, the competitive level of Barty was the challenge for Konta and she found herself fighting for possession during deuce.
The seventh game saw the Australian playing defense on her service where a third break kept her on point and a game down. Konta responded with a swift win in the eighth before breaking Barty for set point taking it in 39 minutes. The Brit had a good lock on her first serve landing 15 of 19 but was troubles on the second serve and had yet to save a break point against Barty. Her luck came on the struggles of the youngster who recorded four double faults in the set.
The second set was her chance for improvement and Konta proved so with a strong service hold on Barty to set the pace. The tables were turned as the Aussie set the bar for Konta who found herself in trouble with the wind picking up as well as aces being launched in her direction. The boost of success allowed Barty to be in front of her own future taking the Brit 4-2. Konta fought her way back and made a statement with two important wins that included a key break to level the score.
Having an opportunity to overtake Barty, Konta opened the throttle and gave herself three game points. They were suddenly erased by the 21 year old who delivered good ball placement but couldn’t cover the spread. She soon found herself on the edge of defeat with the number one seed playing for the match. Nerves got to Barty with two unforced errors giving Konta room to get the job done.
The Aussie denied her that pleasure and saved break points to force deuce in the tenth. She saved herself to send the set deeper with the chance to make three sets possible. For the second time, Konta made her skills count; keeping her eyes on finishing Barty in straight sets. The fight for victory in the 12th didn’t come easy as the Aussie had her hopes pinned to setting up a tiebreaker but her serve had troubles closing things out. She lost two game points to play on deuce and watch Konta take the first strike. Barty answered with an ace but overshot giving Konta a third match point attempt. It came on a tenth double fault from the 21 year old that put the quarterfinal to bed after 90 minutes of play. Neither did well on the serves nor were they showing any strength on the returns. Despite the wind playing a factor, the experience of tight situations allowed Konta the advancement into Saturday’s semifinal where she’d face the winner between American Kristie Ahn and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
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