The Brit faced off with the young American for the first time with the opportunity to pull off a big upset in Paris. In her first entry into the main draw, the 16-year-old with her short run on the clay courts would try to outduel last year’s semifinalist. With such a major push, Konta wanted nothing more than to repeat her success of recent and go big into the tournament. Control of her path against Gauff would put questions aside and bring her the advancement she expects.
Expectations don’t always go as planned as Gauff projected on serve. Despite going to deuce, the teen denied Konta a shot for the AD point, locking it down herself. The American added a break in the second and consolidated both wins with a third straight. Finding herself in a big hole Konta fought through every point in the fourth that led them to deuce but captured the first AD point.
Though she was on the board, Gauff remained focused to come out of the fifth with another service hold, forcing errors from the Brit. Rallying back from 40-15, the 16-year-old saved break points making it 4-1. Konta tried to get another service game from going to the way of the American but her forehand was causing the issues to her vulnerability. She went to deuce but managed to gain and score the win on the AD point cutting the margin in half.
Gauff didn’t let anything on the other side of the court bother her, holding serve in the seventh to go for the break that could give her the lead. The win wasn’t coming on a break but with a shot in the ninth, her effort had the potential to pay off. Konta didn’t want that and forced deuce, leading to a long fight for the win. They played eight breaks with Gauff racking up the double faults that saved set points for Konta but somehow held to win the first in 53 minutes. The American had seven double faults with 14 unforced errors in tow. With the victory, the 16-year-old knew that she would have to remain focused to pull another set against the ninth seed.
Gauff found herself in a hole as Konta came out with a hold of serve in the first and broke the American to love in the next. She made it onto the board in the third with a break back and held to consolidate and level at two-all. A chance to break in the fifth came early for Gauff but an error foiled a quick finish and instead led to a long extension. The fight for the game went deep as eight minutes and a tug of war for the AD point ensued. After five breaks and 11 minutes elapsed a sudden lob from Konta was answered by Gauff, who sliced it back getting the victory.
It was soon 4-2 for the teen as she consolidated with a hold, putting Konta in a tough spot. An attack in the seventh didn’t help the 29-year-old as Gauff forced errors from the Brit to reach two breakpoints. Konta saved one but a long ball behind the baseline brought her comeback to a halt. With the 5-2 stand, Gauff was on the verge of upsetting the ninth seed with her serve left to accomplish. A second double fault didn’t help her efforts to close it out, and with Konta attacking the point she earned the break back.
Her service in the ninth didn’t help extend the match but instead, give Gauff the chance to end it. A short lob rally went sour for the Brit as the teen was in place on court to make the best responses for match points. She rescued one point but not the second as the American won on a forehand error from Konta. It took her 1 hour and 41 minutes to notch her fourth Top 20 win of the season a perfect way to begin her French Open career.
No comments:
Post a Comment