The Daily Telegraph - 26.08.2019

Sport US Open

By Simon Briggs

TENNIS CORRESPONDENT

at Flushing Meadows

After a weekend of record-breaking

triumphs in cricket and rugby,

what price our tennis players deliv-

ering another upbeat story in the

cauldron of Arthur Ashe Stadium?

Johanna Konta is surely the best

bet. She comes in with 10 slam vic-

tories to her name already in 2019:

the highest tally she has brought

into the year’s final major.

And as she revealed this week-

end, she is reaping the benefits – in

terms of public approval, anyway –

of her memorable spat with a

reporter after her quarter-final loss

at Wimbledon.

“Straight after that I went on hol-

iday,” said Konta. “So to a certain

extent I tried to remove myself as

much as possible. But it’s hard to

not notice the traction it got when I

walked down the street and one

woman was shouting down from

the balcony, ‘Good on you!’ ”

The incident began with a

searching question from Daily

Express reporter Matt Dunn, who

highlighted Konta’s 33 unforced

errors, and continued with her

complaint that she was being pat-

ronised and “picked on”.

The next day, Dunn told the BBC

that “her answer was great, it

showed some feistiness”.

Their exchange certainly re-

ceived blanket coverage, while also

demonstrating how much benefit

athletes can gain from showing

their real emotions rather than

sticking to the usual platitudes.

Asked on Saturday whether most

of the public reaction had been pos-

itive, Konta replied: “I can only

speak of the people who stopped

me really. I got more recognition

after this Wimbledon than 2017,

when I had a massive viewership

for my quarter-final.

“I have no idea how she [the

woman on the balcony] recognised

me from the top of my head!

“That was a new experience. But

it was a while ago now and I think

everyone has kind of moved on.”

Having played only two tourna-

ments since Wimbledon, Konta

came away with nothing to show

for either of them.

A pair of first-round defeats sug-

gested a possible emotional hango-

ver from that Wimbledon exit at the

hands of 33-year-old Czech Barbora

Strycova. But Konta, the world

No 16, denies feeling any sense of

anxiety over her recent form, point-

ing out that she has already played

almost 50 times this season, so can-

not be said to lack matches.

A greater concern might be her

first-round draw against Russia’s

Daria Kasatkina – one of those awk-

ward touch players who loves to

break up her mechanical rhythm

with a wide selection of paces and

spins. Their match has been sched-

uled first on Court 17 today, starting

just after 4pm BST.

On the men’s side, the most likely

British flag-bearers are Kyle

Edmund – who says that his knee is

now feeling “fabulous” after many

months of chronic pain – and the

mercurial Dan Evans.

In the interview room yesterday,

Evans explained the thinking be-

hind his surprise axing of coach Da-

vid Felgate at the end of last month.

“I just felt differently when we

started back after Wimbledon,” said

Evans, who will face world No 57

Adrian Mannarino on Court 10 at

around 5.30pm BST.

“I looked at it all and I didn’t

think it was working. I haven’t got

time on my side to be p------ around

paying someone for nothing.”

Evans also suggested that he

would be better off with a younger

coach, who can double up as a hit-

ting partner, rather than a man in

Game over:

Johanna Konta

says she has

‘moved on’ after

her spat with a

reporter at this

year’s Wimbledon

Konta shrugs off

early exits in US

Open preparations

I am match ready, insists

best hope for British win

Evans was ‘wasting time’

with ex-coach Felgate

Top three

on today

Serena

Williams v

Maria

Sharapova

Two

heavyweights

collide in the

first night

session.

Williams has

won 18

straight

matches

against her

old foe but

her fitness

levels are

unknown

after recent

back trouble.

Stan

Wawrinka v

Jannik Sinner

Wawrinka,

the 2016

champion

here, faces

the world’s

top 18-year-

old prospect

from Italy.

Angelique

Kerber v Kiki

Mladenovic

Kerber also

won here in

2016 and will

start as the

favourite. But

her mercurial

French rival

has claimed

some decent

recent scalps.

24 *** Monday 26 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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