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Johanna Konta beats Maria Sakkari to make it into the second week of Wimbledon for the first time

Konta made light work of Sakkari, winning 6-4 6-1 on No 1 Court

Luke Brown
Wimbledon
Friday 07 July 2017 19:38 BST
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Konta roars in triumph after booking her spot in the fourth round
Konta roars in triumph after booking her spot in the fourth round

Johanna Konta lived up to her new billing as the favourite to win Wimbledon with an impressive 6-4 6-1 victory over Maria Sakkari yesterday, to become the first British woman to reach the second week at The Championships since Laura Robson in 2013.

Much like Andy Murray, Konta arrived at the All England Club last weekend struggling with injury and suffering from inconsistent form. But the British number one, who became the bookies’ favourite to win a maiden Grand Slam title when Karolína Plíšková suffered a shock second round defeat on Thursday, is looking comfortable on grass and appears to be hitting her best form.

Unlike in her previous match, a vicious three-set dogfight against Donna Vekic, Konta was never seriously troubled by Sakkari, a 21-year-old ranked 101st in the world who looked rather overawed by the occasion.

Konta broke Sakkari in the Greek’s very first service game and was dominant throughout, converting four of her seven break points and hitting a number of impressive cross-court winners off her forehand. Worryingly for her rivals, however, Konta sees only room for improvement.

“I think I'm playing some good tennis but I don't think I'm playing unbelievable tennis,” she said afterwards. “I’m playing with the mindset of trying to get better and I definitely believe in myself, the fact that I can keep improving. So I know I can keep getting better, yes.”

Konta, the sixth seed at SW19 this year, knows her next match will be harder. Standing in the way between her and a quarter-final appearance is France’s Caroline Garcia, who reached the quarter-finals of this year’s French Open and won their last match-up, a hard-fought three-setter at Indian Wells.

“She's a very good player,” Konta said of her next opponent. “She's someone who is playing with a lot of confidence right now and it’s going to be a very tough match. After Indian Wells I don't anticipate anything different, other than a really, really tough battle for me.”

Konta has made it into the second week of Wimbledon

The dominant nature of Konta’s victory over Sakkari will however surely convince her that it is a battle that can be won. Konta, seeded sixth here, broke Sakkari in the very first game of the match, and lost just one point in her opening three service games to build a commanding early lead. She would go on to take the first set in a positively breezy 39-minutes.

If the opening set was rapid, the opening game of the second set was anything but. Sakkari blew a 30-0 lead, with Konta eventually taking advantage of her third break point to once again seize the initiative. Defeat in the clutch 18-point game appeared to rob Sakkari of any lingering confidence she had that she could beat the Briton, and it wasn’t long before Konta had wrapped up a comfortable straight-sets win.

“I think as a performance, as a competitor, I think I competed really well,” Konta replied when asked to evaluate her performance. I think it was a competitive match. I was really happy with how I put all sorts of difficulties aside and just really looked to compete really hard.”

Konta was also quizzed on her plans for Middle Sunday. The 26-year-old has previously professed her love for the rock band U2 who — as luck would have it — are playing less than six miles away at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday night. Would she be letting her hair down ahead of a return to training on Sunday?

Not likely. “The weekend will be about recovery and preparation for Monday. I will train, eat well and sleep well,” she said, before adding: “I'm actually seeing them a few weeks later. I've already planned to see them so I won’t be there this weekend.”

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