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Johanna Konta got on the right track at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tuesday. The Brit, who needed a great result, earned it against Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski with a straight sets 6-2, 6-0 win at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi.
Konta led the series 2-0 with their last meeting taking place three years ago. She hoped to come back from a first round defeat at the US Open and get into the hard court swing in Asia with more than three weeks prep. With a round of 16 finish last year, Konta hoped to avoid any further damage by getting into the groove.
She served well to start the match, giving just one point to the Canadian before holding serve. The 26-year-old held her own but needed more time as Konta forced deuce. After two break points, she got it locked down to keep things level. The spirited effort lasted four games as Konta coupled her hold in the fifth with a break of Dabrowski's serve that changed the course of the set. With a lot of fight to force deuce, Konta fought to get a break chance after the third deuce to score a 4-2 lead.
She didn’t let off after that, taking a smooth finish to hold in the seventh before another push to break the Canadian. The set came to an end for Dabrowski as Konta clinched the win on the first AD point to take the set after 38 minutes. The Brit had two double faults but had won every single point on first serve.
She made good on keeping the heat on her opponent, breaking at deuce again. She consolidated it, racing away to a 4-0 lead. It wasn’t a clean path to victory after getting to 5-0 due to Dabrowski’s refusal to get skunked. After Konta reached two match points, the 26-year-old saved both of them to force deuce before she lost out, Konta completing her opening round in 64 minutes.
Despite serving 65 percent, Konta remained firm on first serve, winning 23 of 24 points from it and 6 of 13 from the second. She will face Donna Vekic in the second round.
