Johanna Konta was out of sorts that led to her defeat at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham Thursday. American Coco Vandeweghe set her own pace and dominated the top ranked British star to take her out in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 on Ann Jones Centre Court at Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club.
The top 30 players made it a first-time meeting on the WTA tour but a third meeting overall. They last faced off five years ago on Vandeweghe’s home turf in ITF play only to lose to the Brit in straight sets. The Californian would do everything to repay the favor with Konta playing in her home country. She got the win over fellow countrywoman Christina McHale while Konta delivered a straight sets win over Lesia Tsurenko. As the 26-year-old continues to put mileage on the grass courts, she hoped to get through and bring pride not only to herself but her home fans.
She didn’t get the best start as Vandeweghe opened up to 3-0 run serving down powerful rips across court that beat down the British star. She took the next pair of games making it very difficult for the fans to watch and get their countrywoman energized. When it looked as if she’d be delivered the bagel, Konta forced out a solid serve to avoid the shutout but not the inevitable result.
As Vandeweghe went on serve, she continued firing the ball hard getting it where Konta wasn’t stand and put the set to rest after 24 minutes. Despite serving at 80 percent, Konta’s second serve was dismal having just two of four from it and 1 of 12 points on the first return. She took a conference with her coach during the break indicating the obvious and how she was feeling.
The second was a much tighter fight for Konta as she improved her game to show competitive spirit. She matched the American game for game leading the way after five that had the fans in Birmingham enjoying a newfound life in the match. She still couldn’t get a foothold in the set as Vandeweghe had her strategy set on keeping the pressure against her opponent while finding a way out front.
The American was first to act and kept the heat on Konta to stay alive by any means. She reached 5-3 with the Brit on the ball having bad beats on the challenges and the continuous hard returns to reach match point and win on a forehand lob from the number one Brit. The victory came swiftly for the American who not only got her revenge but also finished lightning quick in just over an hour and five minutes.
Though her first serve percentage was under 60 percent, she won 95 percent of her points and 11 of 17 from the second. The well-rounded offense helped out her struggling returns to get her in the right shape to go into the quarterfinals where she’ll face world number 14 Garbine Muguruza on Friday.
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