Johanna Konta, Britain’s best hope of success at the US Open after the shock withdrawal of Andy Murray, crashed out on day one to Aleksandra Krunic, a diminutive Russian-born Serb who admits she has a weak serve and questionable work ethic.
Krunic, who had not beaten a top-10 player since making the fourth round here three years ago, nevertheless had enough in her armoury of slices and deftly placed returns to make the most of Konta’s poor serving – fewer than half of the British player’s 99 first serves went in – and is through to the second round after winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes on a mild day on the Grandstand court.
“She’s an awesome player,” Krunic said courtside of the world No7. “We can all play forehands and backhands, but I had to get my act together. I’m not the best server on Tour. I almost serve under the net. And I’m not the hardest worker. I was brave enough to make some winners.”
Konta, who also lost in the first round of the French Open this year, struggled to disguise her disappointment but insisted it was important not to “catastrophise” the defeat.
The seventh seed will return to London as soon as possible to spend time with her parents but still harbours ambitions of making the end-of-year WTA Finals in Singapore.
Konta paid tribute to her opponent, ranked 71 places below her in the rankings, but the conqueror of Petra Kvitova in her golden run here in 2013. “I don’t take anything for granted. I think it would be quite obnoxious of me to come in here expecting I have a right to be in second week.
“She played consistently much better than I did. She was able to raise her level throughout the match and mine fluctuated a bit up and down. In terms of effort and fight I competed until the very last point. I didn’t think of the French Open while I was playing. I was very much involved in the match that I was playing.
“First rounds in every tournament, and especially at slams, can be tricky, can be difficult for everyone – for me personally – finding your footing and playing yourself into the tournament.”
