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Johanna Konta’s late surge helped punch her ticket into the second week at the Championships Wimbledon on Saturday. After winning the second set, the 19th seed ran out to a 3-0 lead and finished off Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Court One at the All England Tennis Club. It was the fourth consecutive win, making it three successive victories on every surface played in tennis.
The two met for a record fourth time this season writing another chapter of a thrilling rivalry. Both continued to win matches in straight sets giving the indication that one would fall against the other. Konta had made one way dominant results of the American but with her have the advantage of comfort on the grass court, it would be a push back from Stephens that would send the Brit’s strategy tumbling down.
The 26-year old never made it past the third round in three previous attempts giving her worries of history but hope of progress to come. She earned the honor to open service and held back Konta.
The Brit showed a bit more pace in her serve during the second giving Stephens a point before locking down the win. With the bar set by the 28-year old, Stephens knew that she would have to wait for her moment to strike well and up the ante.
After a good trek through the next five games, the American went for the break and with a small error from Konta on serve during the eighth opened the door enough for the ninth seed to conduct her own ending of the set.
Though she faced some adversity, Stephens comfortably gained her second career set win over Konta who erred off the backhand to end 32 minutes. It was her ninth of the set and while the number was so small, it came to minor differences that determined who gained the lead.
When the second got rolling, it was Konta leading the way with back to back errors before scoring a winner. Her path to holding was from three consecutive errors by the American that came off both sides of the racket.
To make up for her early mistakes, Stephens scored her third ace of the match following back to back winners. It was a great way to show her consistency despite having problems on the return side of the game.
When they evened up at two all, the change came for the Brit who fell behind in the fifth with two errors off the forehand. Stephens erred just enough for Konta to score a volley winner that forced deuce and a true tug of war for the lead.
Konta earned an advantage point but was denied by the American who clearly wanted one of her own. The Brit refused to be the one to be broken again and put a lot of effort to avoid it. With two breaks in the books, the 28-year old had to fight and lose out on three more until her fifth became the one to keep the holds of serve going.
Despite forcing deuce and investing much energy into the previous game, Stephens rushed to victory in the sixth giving the 19th seed just one point in it. The next two games saw terrific defensive works from both Konta and Stephens as each dealt with a push from their opponent’s and somehow found a way to hold one another off.
When Konta held in the ninth, she shoved in to gain a break chance for the set was but stopped by Stephens who forced deuce on serve. Konta didn’t let that bother her as she created a second set point that came on a crosscourt winner pushing the match into a critical decider.
Konta once again began the set and scored her first shutout of Stephens before notching her second break to consolidate. A third straight victory for the British number one put Stephens in a concerning spot as she let loose her opponent to dictate.
In an attempt to reel the situation in, the 26-year opened a 40-15 lead only to see her margin close up with Konta’s terrific return winners. She forced deuce but failed to secure the double break chance ending her streak at three.
Returning to serve was a breeze for the 28-year old who registered another victory to sit two games away from the match. Efforts to gain a second break were tough but accomplished by Konta who stood at 5-1 to earn her way into Monday’s fourth round. She reached two match points against the American where the second serve did the trick, forcing Stephens to err on a long ball to end the match in two hours and two minutes.
It was the fastest set played in the match, taking just 32 minutes for Konta to get the job done getting Stephens out of her comfort zone. While she only got the American to commit half her errors, the victory was more of a mental perspective than a battle of talents.
With one star out of the way, the British star will face another tough challenge on Manic Monday when she faces off against ninth seed Petra Kvitova who won the title twice, in 2011 and 2014.
