Lauren Davis next for 26th seed as Konta continues breakthrough clay-court season
Monday 27 May 2019 17:01, UK
British No 1 Johanna Konta got her French Open campaign off to the perfect start with her first-ever victory at Roland Garros, beating Antonia Lottner 6-4 6-4.
Despite the clay courts being far from her preferred surface, Konta has enjoyed an impressive season on the red dirt, reaching the final of the Italian Open last weekend where she was beaten by Karolina Pliskova.
After four successive first-round defeats in Paris, a kind draw against German qualifier Lottner raised hopes this could be the year she advanced and despite struggling on her own serve in the first set, she was able to emerge victorious.
An opening set that featured seven breaks of serve finally went the way of the only British woman in the draw, and she struck for a decisive break in the 10th game of the contest to seal a straight-sets win in 79 minutes.
She will next face American Lauren Davis, who beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-2 6-4.
"I think it was a bigger deal to you guys than it was to me, to be honest," said Konta about her record at the French Open.
"But obviously I'm pleased to have come through that match. It's nice to have won a main-draw match here, but I didn't really look at it too much like that.
"I think I was just, more than anything, happy to have dealt with the challenges of today. And she was a tricky player to play."
World No 147 Lottner was a significant step down from the players that Konta beat in Rome - including Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and Kiki Bertens - but she didn't afford her opponent the luxury of gaining a great deal of flow in the match, particularly in the opening set.
Konta had talked on Saturday about the trust she has in her game, and was happy with the way she handled the tough moments against the German qualifier.
"There wasn't much rhythm in the match," she said. "I think that presents its own type of rhythm and own type of challenge. I was happy that I was able to really stay calm through that.
"And when I found myself in tricky situations or break points down or points where the match could have swung either way, I thought I stayed quite calm. And I think I just trusted myself enough to be able to handle whatever was going to come."
Konta will be favoured to win her next match, too, against Davis, who is ranked 111 in the world.
The duo have played three times before but never at tour level and not since 2013, when Konta won in three tight sets.
"She's a very good competitor, very good mover, very good opponent to have," said the 28-year-old.
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