Eastbourne: Johanna Konta beats Ekaterina Makarova in quarter-finals
Aegon International
- Venue:
- Devonshire Park, Eastbourne
- Date:
- 19-25 June
- Coverage:
- BBC Two, Red Button, Connected TVs and online from Tuesday, 21 June
British number one Johanna Konta reached her first Eastbourne semi-final by beating Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
The 25-year-old recovered from an opening-game break to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 against 2010 champion Makarova.
Konta had beaten Makarova, 28, at this year’s Australian Open, having also beaten her at Eastbourne in 2015’s round of 32.
Eleventh seed Konta will face Czech Karolina Pliskova in the semi-final later on Friday.
Konta, who beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the previous round, said: “I’m happy I get to come back later and play in front of this crowd and hopefully give you a good match.
“Karolina Pliskova will be tough. We have played numerous times and I am yet to beat her. It is not too bad to play twice in one day though. The adrenaline keeps you going.”
| Match stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Konta | Makarova | |
| 10 | Aces | 3 |
| 5 | Double faults | 3 |
| 4/7 | Break points converted | 3/5 |
| 2/5 | Break points saved | 3/7 |
| 64% | First serve percentage | 67% |
| 73% | First serve win percentage | 62% |
Konta, drawn against Monica Puig in the first round at Wimbledon next week, had to overcome early nerves when she was broken in the very first game, while her backhand too looked vulnerable at times.
She made up for it with some strong serves and clever forehands, and even though the pair would exchange two breaks each in the first set, the Briton eventually came through on the tie-break.
Both players dropped serve at the start of the second set, but Konta emerged stronger and at one stage hit four aces in the same game to level up at 4-4.
Australia-born Konta then broke her opponent to love, before Makarova pulled a shot wide to be beaten in an hour and 32 minutes.