Konta Cruises Past Bencic

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Overcoming a tough second round match, No.13 seed Johanna Konta rebounded well to dismiss No.24 seed Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the second year in a row.

“I feel good,” she told press after the match. “I feel well enough to play. I’m really happy with how I was able to just really focus on the match at hand and the work at hand and then put all else out of my mind.”

Konta suffered from a scary case of dizziness en route to beating Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, but faced no such issues on the new Grandstand court. The Brit broke serve five times without facing a break point herself, hitting eight aces and winning 19 of 20 points behind her first serve.

Bencic was playing in her third event since Wimbledon, where she retired due to a left wrist injury, but was undone by 13 unforced errors to just six from her highter ranked opponent. Konta has been close to breaking into the Top 10 since the middle of the summer thanks to a year of impressive results, and will be aiming to reach her second major quarterfinal of the season – her first at Flushing Meadows.

“I do love the US Open. I do have a lot of firsts here. It was the first time I got to qualify into the main draw. It was the first slam I went deeper in, as well. I definitely think the US Open has got its own vibe, its own organized chaos. I think there is a lot of enjoyments players take from that.

“I think if you can stay focused on the work at hand here, you can make it anywhere,” she said with a laugh, quoting Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Standing in her way will be Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, who backed up her big win over No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 2009 quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko. Sevastova, who retired in 2013 only to make a successful return to the game two years later, had never beaten her fellow comeback kid, who led by a break to start their match on Court 17 before Sevastova caught fire once more.

“I have played her once before actually in my first Australian Open qualifying, so I do know her and I have been on court with her. That was a number of years ago. She’s obviously playing very good tennis. She is a very good player. I have a lot of respect for her.

“Hopefully we’ll have a good match.”

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