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Johanna Konta was not in her best form to begin her Rogers Cup challenge on Monday. Too many errors from her end assisted in smoothing out Dayana Yastremska’s chances and led to her 6-3, 6-2 win on Centre Court at the Aviva Tennis Center.
The two met back in Eastbourne where the Brit took care of business in her hometown, allowing the young Ukrainian just six games in a straight-sets result. With both playing for the first time since SW19, they were looking to gain the momentum quickly and use it to build a win.
Konta got off to a good start, holding her first game to love. She quickly scored a break to love as Yastremska erred with a double fault. The latter attempted to come back in the fourth game but drew errors that helped Konta to force a deuce. After two breaks, the Ukrainian had her second AD point to even up.
Three holds of serve followed suit before Yastremska consolidated a key break of serve to nudge ahead to 5-3. With the serve back in her hands, the world number 33 coasted to three set points, winning the set on a return error into the net from Konta to complete 35 minutes of play.
The two combined for seven double faults and 23 errors but the ability to notch up more winners than the Brit gave the 19-year-old a serious edge.
An important hold for Konta came in the first game of the second set where she managed to avoid deuce. She went after Yastremska’s service game, gaining a break point chance but was unable to put her away.
Soon after, the Ukrainian got two AD point chances that locked down the win. Yastremska refused to lower her strengths and kept the pressure on Konta to perform. A serve to love in the fourth game from the world number 33 set up another moment for her to rattle Konta to break.
Yastremska then produced a good attacking display to concede Konta just one point and consolidated the break as the Brit erred on the final point. With the goal in sight, the 19-year-old went on a tear, securing a break to love.
With the ball in hand to serve for the match, Yastremska had the help of errors from Konta to achieve three match points but lost two of them to errors. A third straight brought the Brit to deuce and she hoped to extend the match further. After four breaks and two blown break point chances, the Ukrainian sealed the victory on a wide return from Konta, ending the match in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Yastremska had more than two dozen winners and lowered the unforced errors and double faults count in the second set to be the dominant player in the end. She will now prepare for her second round against Camila Giorgi or Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday.
