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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
JOE KRISHNAN

Johanna Konta out of French Open after semi-final defeat to Marketa Vondrousova

Johanna Konta has lost in the French Open semi-final after a straight sets defeat to Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova.

The British number one made a string of unforced errors at crucial moments in the match, having led 5-3 in both the first and second sets.

But she eventually went down 7-5, 7-6 in a close contest to the unseeded Vondrousova, who reaches her first final aged just 19.

The Brit got off to the best possible start after Vondrousova made several errors on her first serve, breaking in the first game.

The 28-year-old was displaying the same kind of form that saw her breeze past Sloane Stephens in the quarter-finals.

But little by little, Vondrousova began to settle into the game as the players exchanged breaks in serve.

The pivotal moment in the first set came at 5-3 to Konta, who was armed with two set points. With the opportunity to smash home from the net, she blundered and sent her forehand out of the court.

That proved to be crucial and Vondrousova never looked back, breaking back before winning four games in a row to take the first set 7-5.

It was clear that the tide had turned in the Czech's favour and Konta knew she had to dig deep.

There was no gift in the first game this around but she soon began her comeback quest, securing a timely break in the third game.

Having gone 5-3 up again, Konta once again lost her nerve and allowed Vondrousova to break back before taking a 6-5 lead - just as she did in the first set.

But after a gruelling tiebreak, Vondrousova moved up a gear and sealed the victory with a stunning dropshot to deal a cruel blow to Konta, who misses out on a Grand Slam final for a third time.

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