Johanna Konta’s feet of clay are no more. Before this season Roland Garros was her dusty ochre graveyard, whatever her protestations to the contrary. However, as the light faded over the lovely new garden court named in honour of a long-ago French champion, Simonne Mathieu, Konta, standing tall and hitting freely, blitzed the Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova in less than an hour to reach the fourth round, the first British woman to go this deep here since Jo Durie 36 years ago.
Durie, who went on to reach the semi-finals in 1983, was ecstatic. “What a great performance,” she said. “Anything is possible now.”
Konta is in the mood to go further, buoyed by recent performances. Although she is not a student of British tennis history, someone might remind her that Angela Mortimer won here in 1955, Christine Truman four years later, Ann Jones twice, in 1961 and 1966, and Sue Barker in 1976. It is something to aim for.
In May Konta reached the clay final in Rabat. A few weeks later she reached the final in Rome. On Friday, having lost in the first round of the French Open four times in a row, she booked a date in the second week with Donna Vekic with as emphatic a win as she has managed on the surface, 6-2, 6-1, with five aces among her 20 winners. She ran up 54 points – a point a minute - twice as many as her hapless opponent, whose love of Shakespeare, and particularly Hamlet in her native Slovakian, might ease her pain with a pithy phrase or two.
Konta’s piercing, metronomic serve, her court awareness and her movement clicked from start to finish and she showed no signs of the effects of the heavy cold she picked up earlier in the week.
“Today is the most human I have felt the last few days,” she said with a laugh, “so I’m definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
This was one of the most impressive wins of the tournament so far, in either draw, although memories of her titanic three-setter with Vekic in the second round at Wimbledon two years ago on the way to the semi-finals are fresh enough to encourage caution. Vekic, too, is running hot, and was way too strong for the 15th seed, Belinda Bencic, on day six, beating her 6-4, 6-1 going away.
Konta’s memories of their Wimbledon epic include flying ants that filled the air. But there were plenty of great shots, too, from both of them. Billie Jean King thought it was the best match of the fortnight. “We have had some pretty impressive battles in the past,” Konta said, “so there is no reason why Sunday can’t be like that.”
Elsewhere there was struggle. After the early exit of the fifth seed, Angelique Kerber, the young Canadian hotshot Bianca Andreescu, the Belarussian prospect Aryna Sabalenka, then the spluttering struggles of the world No1, Naomi Osaka, and a close call for the defending champion, Simona Halep, on Thursday, the leading women are under seige in Paris.
There have been 18 different champions in 18 tournaments this year. As the field thins out, there are opportunities all over the draw.
Even Sloane Stephens, tipped by many to win, was extended. It took the American more than two and a half hours to beat the world No71, Polona Hercog, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, after blowing match points in the second set. She will find Garbiñe Muguruza, a straight-sets winner over the ninth seed, Elina Svitolina, just as tough on Sunday.
In the bottom quarter on that side of the draw the exciting Czech Marketa Vondrousova – probably the best of the three teenagers left in the draw, alongside Amanda Anisimova and the junior Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek - scored another significant win, coming from a break down to beat the experienced Spanish clay-courter, Carla Suárez Navarro, in an hour and a half 6-4, 6-4.
Vondrousova has beaten Halep twice in her past five tournaments – among 25 victories for the season. She next plays the inventive Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, who outlasted the 20th seed, Elise Mertens, in one of the most attractive matches of the first week. The world No 12 saved five match points to win 6-7 (3), 6-4, 11-9 in three hours and 18 minutes.
Asked to describe her thrilling fightback, Sevastova could only say, “I just remember this backhand along the line, a forehand inside out and one drop shot. The other two I don’t remember.” They were all good and she will give Vondrousova a real test.
