Johanna Konta had her eyes on the prize despite moments of defeat at the AEGON Classic Tuesday. The fourth seed in the tournament overcame a deficit in the second set against Lesya Tsurenko to manage a straight sets victory 6-3, 7-6(6) on Ann Jones Centre Court on the grounds of Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club.
The top seeded Brit holds the series lead against the Ukrainian with their last meeting taking place at Eastbourne last year. The 26-year-old suffered a tough loss in Sunday’s Nottingham final losing in straight sets to Donna Vekic. With the fatigue playing a role in her start of a new tournament it gave Tsurenko a chance to pull off an early upset. She went 3-1 at Hertogenbosch last week and had a great chance of being a strong contender in the early rounds.
She got on the board after Konta opened a two-game lead in the opening set. It was the only sight of success for her as her troubles on the second serve only gave the top seeded Brit leverage. She used her power to overwhelm the returns from Tsurenko to go up 4-1. The sixth was another chance for the Ukrainian to make something of her serve and get invested in the set.
The opportunities became slim as Konta’s holds of serve led her to play for the set in the eighth. In a key response, Tsurenko denied the Brit of an easy break and put together a love service. It was up to Konta to get the job done with the ball in hand and did so with the hold that ended the set in 31 minutes. Despite having a lower first serve percentage, her offense took a toll on Tsurenko who failed to regroup in time recording 14 unforced errors.
She made good in the second set to be the one dictating, the Ukrainian led the way over Konta after three and captured the first break to lead 3-1. Tsurenko was looking good as she added another win to her name searching for the tie in the match. It wasn’t until the six that Konta managed a win but not without adversity. Her health became a concern with the weather also playing a role in terms of heat.
After Tsurenko reached 5-2, the Brit had the trainer come out to inform her of trouble breathing. She decided to continue on and won her second straight service game. The Ukrainian had the ball in hand to serve for the set in the eighth but faltered with her fifth double fault that opened the door for the world number seven. She walked right through and won the break that had her a game down from leveling the set and possibly winning the match.
The advantage of service in the tenth became a big deal for her as she had Tsurenko in a bad spot making it through with the win and a push for chances to win it all. The 28 year was first to act and held her end to put all the pressure on Konta to break. The fourth seed held herself together setting up the crucial tiebreaker that could make her day or extend it. She used every play in the book to respond while on serve and against it. A big double fault from Tsurenko came at the worst time for her giving Konta the room she needed to take off on the score.
The Ukrainian saved herself recovering from the deficit to level at four all with Konta. The fight was still there from the Brit as she delivered tough shots that her opponent couldn’t return. Another huge save for Tsurenko came on Konta’s second match point attempt that landed long of the baseline. She chose a bad time to challenge a call from Konta’s shot in the rally. Believing it was out, the Ukrainian felt that she had the point.
Hawkeye showed the ball was in, giving Konta a third try. She did not disappoint scoring the key point that ended in 1 hour and 36 minutes. “I was very happy to come through there in two,” Konta said after the match. “It was very close going into the third and she was playing really well.” The comeback she pulled off was a show of tremendous focus to avoid playing deeper in the match. With her day of tennis completed, the world number seven would prepare for her second-round match Wednesday against Americans Coco Vandeweghe or Christina McHale.
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