Johanna Konta saw her tournament come to an abrupt end at the US Open. The work of Alexandra Krunic worked tremendously as she broke the British game to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Grandstand Court at the Billy Jean King Tennis Center. It was the second time Krunic took down a top ten player at the final Grand Slam of the season.
This was a first time meeting for the two with both Konta and Krunic having a lot to prove in the opening round. The Serb and Brit have reached the second week of action with Konta showing consistency in the final slam of the season. She had a slow start to the hard court season missing out on defending her title at Stanford and winning just two of five so far on the surface. While she’s never faced Krunic before, the first round always stands out as a precursor to good or bad times ahead.
She watched the Serb put together a good serve to open the match, but as soon as Konta got the ball, the comfort immediately came together. The seventh seed blasted away at Krunic to get even and took care of business going forward. By the time five games elapsed, the top seeded Brit was already three games up on Krunic who was trying to find ways to recover from going two breaks down.
She stopped Konta in the sixth with a big fight on her hands to force deuce. After a few breaks, Krunic secured the victory to end Konta’s four game winning streak. The 24 year old had better moments coming together as she pulled off a great response against the Brit leaving her a game down. Errors were beginning to increase for the British star as she watched Krunic climb all the way back, losing the break to the Serb for a four all tie.
The need to recover came on a rough serve from Krunic where she failed to gain a point in the ninth giving Konta back the lead and a chance to serve for the set. Konta let a break point get away from her but the seventh seed reached two set points in the game to capture the first set ending 43 minutes. Both had a combined 30 unforced errors with Krunic having more in the set. Konta’s first set was the workhorse to her victory but knew that the way to straight sets was adjusting to stay ahead in the match.
She pulled off an amazing baseline lob that got over the net against the 24 year old in the first game and found a way to force deuce. It wasn’t easy for the Brit to gain the key point as Krunic found ways of breaking Konta. After five breaks, Krunic got the win giving her a stance in the set to not fall behind again. She continued to stay ahead despite fighting off unforced errors in the third game. After rallying to deuce with Konta, she held off the Brit enough to get the win on serve.
She stayed ahead of Konta after seven as it was becoming clear that Krunic’s game had taken a positive outlook while the Brit struggled. The seventh seed had too many errors on her game and the returns that led the Serb to move easily into position. After gaining two games in the eighth, Krunic went for the victory to send both player to the distance after 44 minutes.
The British star knew that something big had to come from the final set doing so with a hold of serve. Krunic secured a break in the third and sought to open the margin in the third as she tried to get back on serve.
The two went to four breaks where Konta held for the break keeping the score level at two all. They kept the breaks going on one another through six games including another from the Serbian who kept the pace. The eighth spelled serious trouble for Konta as Krunic put together a well stabled fight to the Brit that gave her the victory on serve changing control. Her victory gave her a massive 5-3 hold where Konta was serving to stay alive in the match.
Krunic’s returns were helping her get ahead on points that sent Konta into a need for response. She gained winners to hold serve, gaining the victory on service in the ninth. It was up to Krunic to get it done on her own terms in the tenth. She began with a winner and dealt with a lob attack from Konta who made her pay for it dearly. A five shot rally ended with a great shot that set up three match points for the 24 year old.
A ten shot rally ended with an unforced error from Konta that brought a huge thunderous applause in what became the biggest upset of the day. The match lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes in what was a huge comeback for the unseeded player who made her way to another second round matchup. “I feel amazing obviously,” Krunic said during her on court interview.
“I’m happy with the way I play and the way I fought. I had to be my best from the first point and that’s not really what I do, but today it was all about intensity and she’s an intense player so I’m proud of myself that I managed to do things that I tactfully had in my head and it worked out.”
She’ll prepare for Wednesday’s matchup which would come against the winner between Johanna Larsson and Ajla Tomljanovic.
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