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Johanna Konta faced a tough start to the US Open but came out with a victory on Monday. The Brit who struggled with some frustrations in the second set turned it around to defeat Darya Kasatkina 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on Court 17 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
Nearly 70 unforced errors were committed by the two players but Konta’s ability to hold her serve better than Kasatkina earned her a spot into the second round.
The two have faced off three times on hard courts and the Russian had come out victorious twice. With troubling starts during the second half of the hard surface, the Brit needed something to not only boost her morale but also a win that would even the scores.
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Konta came into the match with a forceful push of Kasatkina to earn two breakpoints. The Russian answered to force deuce but let a chance for the AD point get away from her giving the Brit the opening game.
Konta built on the early break and notched a serve to love in the second to get comfortable on the court. Kasatkina got on the board in the third but losing another service game in the fifth gave Konta the 4-1 lead.
The Brit found her groove and gave Kasatkina a load of trouble to ease her into another victory from her end. She went after the set in the sixth drawing errors from the Russian to gain two set points.
Despite one getting away, she watched her opponent hit the ball far wide to end the first in 25 minutes. It was the 10th unforced error for Kasatkina and with four double faults already recorded, and ten winners unanswered from her opponent, the pressure was on to improve fast.
With winners coming from Konta in the opening of the second set, improving against the Brit proved challenging. She pulled off a victory on serve in the second game but getting breaks from Konta wasn’t coming early.
They remained on serve through the fourth until a key break for Kasatkina helped her create a lead change for her benefit. The Russian opened up to 4-2 but saw her leverage fade with the Brit back in reach after seven.
Konta became frustrated when a call against her opponent didn’t go the right way and had a chat with the umpire about it. She was denied any changes and booed by the crowd to continue playing. A hard push in the eighth was foiled by the Russian who forced deuce and took her for a run through three breaks before she found a way to lock down the AD point.
Another moment of what was felt wrong sent Konta to the chair with boos once again silencing her to walk back and continue the match. She went on to score serve to love in the ninth but fell short of overcoming the deficit which Kasatkina sealed with a victory on serve in the tenth ending 58 minutes.
Knowing that she let her emotions get the best of her, the 29-year-old turned herself around and fired off the third set with a strong win over Kasatkina. Adding a break went a long way to getting out front despite being broken back in the third. Konta added the double break that hurt the Russian and consolidated to hold in the fifth having a grip on the final set.
The double faults cost Kasatkina the three-game hole she stood in but in the sixth despite committing her ninth DF, she locked down a win in the sixth to keep Konta playing.
The Brit responded with a beautiful serve to love in the seventh that devastated Kasatkina giving the 28-year-old a shot at the match.
The Russian didn’t want to give anything to Konta but a double fault and an error forced deuce in the eighth. The Brit gained an AD point where she saw Kasatkina commit her 11th double to end the match a minute over two hours.
What was a roller coaster ride for Konta ended in a terrific finish ending a three-match losing streak? She’ll try to add more wins going into round two facing either Priscilla Hon or Margarita Gasparyan.
