Belinda Bencic fights back to beat Johanna Konta in Eastbourne
Thursday 25 June 2015 20:29, UK
Johanna Konta's impressive run at the Aegon Eastbourne International came to an end at the quarter-final stage as she lost 2-6 6-0 6-3 to Belinda Bencic.
British No 2 Konta entered the tournament on a wild card and turned in the best week of her career as she beat world No 8 Ekaterina Makarova and No 20 Garbine Muguruza.
However, she was unable to progress to the semi-finals as Bencic came from a set down to eliminate the last British challenge in just under two hours.
Konta told the official WTA Tour website: "Obviously I played a very solid, good first set, and started the match really well.
"She definitely stepped up her level after that. She played very well. All credit to her - she played tough and solid when she needed to, and she just played the situation - she was definitely the better player today.
"But I'm really happy with my effort this week. I'm really happy with the week in general. Today I just played against a player who was very tough - she stayed tough, and she came out on top in the end."
Bencic, who survived six aces and saved 10 of a dozen break points, will next face Caroline Wozniacki who reached the semi-finals for the third straight year with a 7-5 6-1 win over Andrea Petkovic.
The second-seeded Dane lost her most recent clash against Bencic in the last 32 at Indian Wells in March.
Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska also advanced to the last four with a straightforward 6-2 6-2 defeat of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.
The 2008 champion, who went out in the first round on the English south coast in three successive editions from 2012-2014, needed just 65 minutes to advance from four breaks of serve.
Radwanska, seeded ninth, will next face Sloane Stephens after the American advanced without hitting a shot when Russian opponent Daria Gavrilova had to retire before their quarter-final with an abdominal strain.
