Konta Swats Aside Stosur In Zhuhai Opener, Secures Top 10 Spot

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

ZHUHAI, China – Top seed Johanna Konta made a confident start to the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai by brushing aside Samantha Stosur in straight sets on Wednesday.

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Flying starts to both sets laid the foundations for an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over former US Open champion Stosur.

“Against a player like Sam, who plays such a big ball and has such a big game, I really had to do my best to stay there for every single point and take my chances whenever they came,” Konta said in her on-court interview.

Konta had not played since withdrawing from the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open with an abdominal strain, but she showed no sign of rustiness early on, darting across the net to break serve in the opening game.

At a time of year when the bodies and minds of many players are hankering for a holiday, the Briton looked sharp, maneuvering Stosur around the court with ease to stretch this lead to 4-0. And while the Australian eventually found some success, reducing her arrears to 4-3, Konta steadied the ship, firing down a couple of aces to calmly close out the set.

The second set was even more emphatic, the World No.10 taking the first four games once again as she hurtled towards the finishing line and top spot in the Azalea Group.

Konta, the WTA’s Most Improved Player of the year, narrowly missed out on qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but still has plenty to play for on her Zhuhai debut; victory over Stosur confirmed Konta will become the first Briton since Jo Durie in 1983 to finish the year inside the Top 10.

“It doesn’t matter what group you’re in here, every single player is so tough – the elite! – so that I know going into every single match that I get to play this week I have to be 100%.”

Earlier on in Camellia Group, Timea Bacsinszky saw off Timea Babos, 6-4, 6-2.

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