French Open 2019: Konta breezes into fourth round with dominant win over Kuzmova

Johanna Konta cruised into the fourth round of the French Open 2019 on Friday evening after dispatching Viktoria Kuzmova 6-2, 6-1 on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

This was the first meeting between the two players who endured different journeys en route to the third round. A viral illness to Dutch star Kiki Bertens meant Kuzmova was gifted a berth in the next round after just playing four games.

Konta, on the other hand, wasn’t so fortunate and had to overcome American Lauren Davis in a match that went the distance.

Konta started brightly with a service hold before breaking the Slovakian early. The Brit then consolidated the break of serve with a hold, firing down a couple of aces in the process.

Kuzmova recovered some lost ground by winning two straight games but that was all that the British number one would allow her to get. Konta broke again and had the set wrapped up in under 30 minutes. She won 77 percent of the points on her first serve and struck nine winners in a dominant display.

Come on! @JohannaKonta becomes the 1st British women to reach the #FrenchOpen 4th round since 1983 after a sublime 6-2, 6-1 win over Kuzmova #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/smfvQo7M0i

— LTA (@the_LTA) May 31, 2019

Konta started the second set strongly as well, holding her opening service game before breaking the Slovakian. In no time, Konta had raced off to a 3-0 lead. Kuzmova managed to stem the bleeding though, an ace helping her hold serve in the fourth game.

However, Konta was not holding back and struck three consecutive winners to regain her 3-game advantage. Kuzmova crumbled under the pressure and a couple of unforced errors handed Konta the second break following which the Brit served out the match.

Konta will now face Donna Vekic in the fourth round after the Croatian got the better of Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in straight sets.