Johanna Konta kept her service in check that was the key to her opening victory of 2021 at the Gippsland Trophy. Bernarda Pera didn’t have her service game together throughout her battles with the fifth seed who won 6-2, 6-2 on 1573 Arena at Melbourne Park.
The two rekindled their rivalry dating back three years when they met a few times. Pera won their last matchup, ending her losing streak to the Brit. The American got a lot of time on the court winning her three-set match over Olivia Gadecki. It marked her third match this season, setting the bar high for Konta making her season start. With little time to warm up since completing quarantine, the world number 13 had to get a terrific start if she expected to be back to competing well against Pera.
The opening game was a long one for both as Pera cooked the ball too much during rallies, leading to a short deficit. Konta had a breakpoint chance but made an error that forced deuce. The game lasted seven minutes and after four long breaks, Pera managed to come through it holding service. Pera attacked Konta’s serve late in the second that forced deuce but an opportunity went wide, resulting in the Brit holding.
A break for the world number 13 gave her a leg up as Pera double-faulted in the third. It was soon one-way traffic, as Konta had her offense in position, taking her best to Pera who struggled to answer. The double faults began to increase for the American who was once again broken in the fifth. Konta rallied to consolidate a second time, winning her fifth game in a row. Pera got on the board with a better service game despite notching her fourth double fault. The damage has been done and with Konta serving for the set, she double-faulted for the first time yet closed out the first in 44 minutes.
Konta opened the second with another break of serve, driving the returns hard that made it a tough outing. She then posted a surprising service game filled with errors and a double fault that put Pera on the board. The American still hadn’t cleared out the problems, notching the third broken service game in favor of the British number one. Konta avoided giving one to her opponent on serve and held her end during the fourth to make it 3-1.
The American responded with a quick service game that cut into Konta’s lead, hoping to counteract the pace. The two were on a run of service games with Pera in reach of the Brit through seven games. Konta made the push to hold in the eighth, giving her a chance to play for the match on Pera’s service. Both made errors in the ninth, but with game point, Pera double-faulted, bringing the score to deuce. The Brit scored match point on a breakpoint crosscourt winner before closing out her first match of the season with a final error from Pera ending 1 hour and 18 minutes.
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