Match reports
There’ll be no more senior singles matches until Serena Williams plays her quarter-final against Qiang Wang at 7pm local time, 12am BST, and I will thus bid you adieu. Thanks for your company. Bye!
There is one senior match on court currently. In the women’s doubles the No1 seeds, Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos, are 5-2 up in the first set against the all-star Victoria Azarenka-Ash Barty pairing, with two breaks.
It hasn’t been a good day for the Brits: not only did Konta lose, but in the juniors Arthur Fery lost 7-6, 6-1 in the singles and has just gone down 6-1, 6-1 in the doubles, alongside Hungary’s Peter Makk (to the No4 seeds), while Harry Wendelken lost his juniors doubles match 6-2, 6-2 (to the No5 seeds).
Here’s a bit from Medvedev’s post-match on-court interview:
The match was really strange. I had really big pain in my quadriceps and I didn’t feel i could continue the match in the first set. I feel really strange about this match but I’m happy to be in my first major semi-final.
Before the match I was feeling perfect and all these tapes were for protection. In the first game of the match I pulled my quadriceps. I took a painkiller and by the fourth set I was feeling normal. I’ll see how I feel and will try my best to be fit for the semis.
So many people support me, so many people don’t like me. I can just say, I try to be myself guys. I have to say, sorry guys, and thankyou.
Daniil Medvedev cruises into the semi-finals!
Fourth set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6 Medvedev* Medvedev strolls out and holds to 15, Wawrinka’s point coming from a double fault. He ends the match with an inch-perfect backhand lob, and raises his hands in apology to a crowd that have veered between noisy Swiss-supporting and complete silence. There’s no doubt that he was genuinely troubled by a thigh injury, but he conjured up a winning tactic and now has three days to recuperate before his semi-final!
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Fourth set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 1-5 Medvedev* At 0-15 Medvedev conjures the most absurd angle on his forehand. Clearly a complete mishit, as he holds up a hand to apologise when Wawrinka fails to get it back. Wawrinka then misses a couple of backhands, and he’s down a double break, with Medvedev serving for the match!
Fourth set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 1-4 Medvedev* At 15-0 Medvedev comes to the net but completely fluffs his volley, which plops apologetically in midcourt. But he correctly guesses the direction of Wawrinka’s pass, flings out a racket and the ball comes off the edge and dribbles over the net, barely bouncing, for a winner. At 15-30 Medvedev serves wide and then slams his backhand into an empty court for a winner, making the game look easy.
Fourth set: Wawrinka* 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 1-3 Medvedev Hello again! Such a fascinating match, this. Wawrinka, aided by Medvedev’s decision to halt the point at 30-15 to incorrectly challenge a line call, holds to gain a foothold in the set.
Fourth set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 0-3 Medvedev* A hiccup in Medvedev’s game plan here, as Stan scraps his way to a break-back point. He drives a deep forehand, and scampers into the net – only for a flailing Medvedev to somehow return it with interest, forcing Wawrinka into an awkward volley that floats wide. Stan gets back to deuce, but misses an opportunity to pass in the next rally, and gets outlasted in the next. The Russian is three games away – and with that, I’ll hand back to Simon.
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Fourth set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 0-2 Medvedev Will Medvedev come to regret that failed effort to break his opponent at the end of the third? Perhaps he’s just feeling better now – he takes the first two points, and is unerringly accurate in another long rally. Three break points for the Russian – and a floating lob messes with Stan’s head. He bunts it into the net, and Medvedev breaks!
Fourth set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1 Medvedev* So, we have a match on here. Medvedev on serve to begin the fourth set, and he holds with a terrific volley, guided low beyond Wawrinka’s despairing dive.
Stan Wawrinka wins the third set, Medvedev leads 2-1
Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 6-3 Medvedev Can Stan close it out this time? No – he goes long after a tense, tentative rally. And now Stan double faults! Oh my. Break point number four – saved with a huge serve and a crashing overhead smash. Another big body serve brings up his third set point – and this time, Medvedev nets a backhand!
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Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 5-3 Medvedev At 30-15, a Wawrinka error gives Medvedev a sniff. The next rally is a punishing one, Medvedev letting out a scream as the big forehands rain down, one too many. Set point – and with the set on his racket, Wawrinka blazes a forehand wide!
Deuce, and Wawrinka has tightened up here, netting to surrender a break point. Stan digs out an ace, but his opponent goes toe-to-toe with him in the next rally, a 20-shot epic that Medvedev wins!
Another ace rescues Wawrinka again, but he misjudges a backhand, and Medvedev has a third break point. Can he make this extra effort count? The umpire calls his slice-shot out, and another Wawrinka ace brings up set point. What a game this is ...
Third set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 5-3 Medvedev* Stan challenges the call on a Medvedev ace, but it was in by a millimetre. Another ace, and two netted returns, and Wawrinka will have to serve this out.
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Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 5-2 Medvedev A hefty return from the Russian, a looping mishit from Wawrinka, and it’s 15-30. A shorter kicking second serve helps Stan take control of the next rally, followed up with an ace. Wawrinka then gets Medvedev running with a drop shot, and powers a volley home to move one game from the set.
Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 4-2 Medvedev Another service hold, this time wrapped up in less than a minute.
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Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 4-1 Medvedev They’re certainly whipping through this set – five games down in barely 10 minutes. This time, Stan goes wide with his first serves, not letting Medvedev get into the points.
Third set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 3-1 Medvedev* Stan has played 50 five-set matches in his career; Medvedev is yet to win a five-setter. So it’s not in Medvedev’s interests for this to go the distance. He gets on the board here in another low-energy game, big serves getting the job done.
Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 3-0 Medvedev Wawrinka powers his way to 40-15, then fires an ace down the middle that Medvedev doesn’t bother moving for. A terrific start to this set for Stan – is his opponent saving energy, or feeling a bit of tension?
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Third set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 2-0 Medvedev* Two double faults in succession hand Wawrinka two break points. Can he get ahead in this set. Yes he can – he outlasts Medvedev in a rally. It’ll be interesting to see how hard Medvedev pushes himself in the rest of this set.
Third set: *Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 1-0 Medvedev This is Niall here, stepping in while Simon has a short break. Wawrinka opens the third set with a hold to love, finishing it off with a feathered drop shot with Medvedev adrift at the baseline.
Medvedev takes a two-set lead!
Second set: Wawrinka 6-7, 3-6 Medvedev* “It seems playing an seemingly injured Medvedev is equally difficult,” says @chuks_ceekay on Twitter. “He is using a lot of smart thinking.” This is really intriguing stuff. Medvedev swoops through the set in 33 minutes.
Second set: Wawrinka* 6-7, 3-5 Medvedev Medvedev, holding a break, seems happy to surrender Wawrinka’s service games to concentrate on his own. The Swiss holds to 15, without much of a fight.
Second set: Wawrinka 6-7, 2-5 Medvedev* And then Medvedev holds to 15. He looks comfortable right now, tactically if not physically (though we haven’t seen the trainer for a while).
Second set: Wawrinka* 6-7, 2-4 Medvedev Wawrinka holds to love.
Second set: Wawrinka 6-7, 1-4 Medvedev* Wawrinka is being out-thought here, and it’s really quite fascinating to watch. My suspicion is that Medvedev will falter before the finish line, but it’s very far from certain.
Second set: Wawrinka* 6-7, 1-3 Medvedev At 30-30 Wawrinka plays an absolutely remorseless point, thrashing the ball hither and yon while Medvedev throws himself about gamely but ultimately in vain. Then he hits a second serve straight into his opponent’s backhand sweet spot, it whistles back past him and all that hard work is undone. Another winning backhand return and an unforced error from Wawrinka and Medvedev is up a set and a break!
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Second set: Wawrinka 6-7, 1-2 Medvedev* There is always a point, between a player getting injured and them giving up, when they are wildly improvising alternative strategies and it looks like they might actually work. This is where we are at the moment, with Medvedev hitting an unusual number of drop shots (which aren’t really paying off), increasing the power of his forehands and going for broke with his first serve. There are a couple of aces in this game, which he holds to 30, but the question is whether his body will last as long as his tactics.
Second set: Wawrinka* 6-7, 1-1 Medvedev Medvedev runs forward for an easy shot, but gets to the ball before he’s decided what to do with it and in the end scoops something pretty sad back towards Wawrinka, which is put away with maximum violence. A hold to love.
Second set: Wawrinka 6-7, 0-1 Medvedev* An email from David Sweet: “‘Having spent an age strapping up Medvedev’s left thigh, this time the trainer slices it off. This doesn’t work as well.’ I’m surprised it worked at all to be honest. Must be tough playing with a thigh sliced off: credit to Medvedev for winning the 12th game!” Fair point. It was the strapping that was sliced off, rather than the thigh itself. On court, Medvedev keeps on hobbling productively.
Daniil Medvedev wins the first set!
First set: Wawrinka 6-7 Medvedev Medvedev’s lovely topspun lob wins him the first point, the ball spinning away from the scampering Wawrinka, and the next two as well. He’s throwing everything at this, despite the injury. Later he almost assassinates a ball girl with a first serve that arrows just wide of her head, and then serves up another delicious drop-shot/lob double-whammy. That takes it to 5-2. A few moments later it’s 5-6, thanks mainly to a brilliant Wawrinka backhand, with the ball already behind him, that turned an apparently lost cause into a point won. Medvedev saves the set point, and then wins one of his own with another drop shot. Wawrinka’s next return floats long, and the Russian has won the set! Whether he can win another two, or even stay vertical long enough to have a chance, is now the question.
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First set: Wawrinka 6-6 Medvedev* A ninth double fault takes the score to 0-30. Medvedev then comes to the net, which reduces the need to run around the baseline even if he doesn’t look at home there. Still, he wins the point, and the next after Wawrinka’s return floats long, and the next after sneaking to the net again and landing his first volley on the back of the line, and holds when Wawrinka’s forehand clips the top of the net and floats wide. We have ourselves a tiebreak.
First set: Wawrinka* 6-5 Medvedev Wawrinka makes his opponent run around a bit, as of course you must when your opponent looks to be suffering. Medvedev wins the first couple of points anyway, the second after really quite a lot of to-and-fro sprinting, but loses the next four and must now serve to stay in the set.
First set: Wawrinka 5-5 Medvedev* Having spent an age strapping up Medvedev’s left thigh, this time the trainer slices it off. This doesn’t work as well: Wawrinka streaks to a 0-30 lead, then Medvedev double-foot-faults to give his opponent three break points. The Swiss takes the third, when Medvedev nets a backhand.
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First set: Wawrinka* 4-5 Medvedev At 30-0 Medvedev hits a brilliant winning forehand return, and then another forehand puts him in a winning position in the next point. A couple of excellent serves later it’s 5-4, and the trainer is back out.
First set: Wawrinka 3-5 Medvedev* The Russian gets up, dusts himself down and holds to 30. Wawrinka, whose last opponent, Novak Djokovic, didn’t complete the match, must be sniffing a potential repeat.
Medvedev’s thigh is now getting some significant strapping.
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The trainer is on, and prodding Medvedev’s left thigh.
First set: Wawrinka* 3-4 Medvedev Medvedev wins a point with a lovely angled wrong-footing forehand. However, he loses all the other points.
First set: Wawrinka 2-4 Medvedev* Medvedev, meanwhile, continues to flirt with disaster without ever quite finding it. He hits a puzzlingly poor forehand a foot wide to gift Wawrinka a break point at 30-40, then another double fault surrenders another. They’re both saved, mind, and he holds again.
First set: Wawrinka* 2-3 Medvedev Wawrinka has had absolutely no hassle on his serve since he lost it.
First set: Wawrinka 1-3 Medvedev* Medvedev, at 40-15, produces his fourth double fault, followed by his fifth. That matches the number of double faults he served in the entirety of his last match, against Dominik Koepfer, which he won in four sets. He does like a double fault, but this is ridiculous. He holds anyway.
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First set: Wawrinka* 1-2 Medvedev Wawrinka gets on the board.
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First set: Wawrinka 0-2 Medvedev* There was a period during the second set of the Konta match when watching the action wasn’t rendered awkward by an annoying shadow, but really this court isn’t at its best during daylight hours. Anyway, I digress. Medvedev soars to a 40-0 lead and then gives away four points, the last three with double faults, to present Wawrinka with a break point. Finally he lands a serve (at the second attempt), and the Swiss is so surprised he hits his return wide. Medvedev refocuses and takes the game from there.
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First set: Wawrinka* 0-1 Medvedev An early break! Medvedev goes 15-40 up after forcing Wawrinka into three desperate stretching volleys, each more improbable than the last, and then an overhit backhand ends the game.
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The warm-up is over, and Wawrinka is about to serve.
Medvedev wins the toss, and chooses to receive.
“I hope it’s going to be fair to both players and I hope it’s going to be electric,” says Medvedev of the atmosphere on Arthur Ashe. “Hopefully it’s going to be a great match to watch.” And with that he too is off to the court, to loud pantomime booing.
Stan Wawrinka is about to take to the court. “The emotion I get here is always great and hopefully I can play at a good level today,” he says.
In other British-based news, Arthur Fery lost his second-round match against Canada’s Liam Draxl 7-6, 6-1.
@Simon_Burnton The way in which Konta plays very decent tennis up to a given point in a tourney, then just rolls over and dies makes you wonder whether she's forever thinking of the importance of the *next* match, rather than being fully in the one that she is playing …
— VoiceOfTheMysterons (@Mysteron_Voice) September 3, 2019
This wasn’t as bad as the French Open, when she was absolutely phenomenal in the quarter-final but fell apart in the semi. Svitolina is a fine player who gave nothing away. But the more often Konta reaches the final stages of Grand Slams without reaching the final of one, and the more often she comes out of major matches feeling that she lost rather than being beaten, the more problems with self-belief are likely to trouble her.
Final unforced error count: Konta 35-13 Svitolina. The Ukrainian was excellent, and her court coverage forced Konta to go for shots she might ordinarily have held back from, but there were just too many mistakes.
Elina Svitolina beats Jo Konta to reach the US Open semi-finals!
Second set: Konta 4-6, 4-6 Svitolina Konta takes the first point of the game, but that’s as good as it gets. At 30-15 Konta comes to the net but fails to put away a difficult first volley, allowing Svitolina to sprint across the court and hit an excellent backhand pass! That sets up two more match points, and after one more overcooked Konta forehand it’s all over!
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Second set: Konta* 4-6, 4-5 Svitolina At 30-30 Konta has a straightforward forehand, which balloons off her racket to give her opponent a first match point. It’s saved with a strong serve, and when she concedes another with an overhit backhand that too is saved with a strong serve. This, she works out, is a decent tactic, and with two more service winners she takes the game and forces Svitolina to serve this out!
Second set: Konta 4-6, 3-5 Svitolina* Sometimes it’s like every fourth Konta shot is rubbish, and so long as Svitolina keeps a point going long enough she’s sooner or later going to be gifted it. At 40-30 Konta hits a great return which Svitolina can only scoop back. Konta runs forward, raises her racket, and slams her volley into the net, which just about sums up her afternoon.
Second set: Konta* 4-6, 3-4 Svitolina The comeback ends here. At 0-15 Konta hits another fine drop shot, but she is caught on her heels when Svitolina reaches it leading to her losing that point, and then there’s another unforced error, and a fine down-the-line pass, and the Ukrainian is a break up once again!
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Second set: Konta 4-6, 3-3 Svitolina* At 15-30, down a break, down a set, Konta winds up a forehand in midcourt. Svitolina, at the other end, isn’t sure which way to run. Konta thwacks it three yards wide and a couple long. Thus what might have been two break points become 30-30, and the Konta fightback continues to falter under the weight of unnecessary errors. At deuce Svitolina hits a weak second serve and Konta piles into the forehand return ... which lands long. But then Svitolina fails to put away an easy backhand, Konta reads her intentions and wins a point that should have been over, and buoyed by this she takes the next couple of points, breaking back with a perfect forehand drop shot. Svitolina had an easy shot to go 4-2 up; instead it’s 3-3!
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Second set: Konta* 4-6, 2-3 Svitolina At 30-15 Konta hits a backhand into the net, when had it cleared it was a straightforward winner. Then she unnecessarily hits another backhand well wide to concede a break point. Svitolina this time fails to punish a second serve, but she does so to win the next point, and another unforced error gives Svitolina the break! Konta has hit 25 unforced errors to her opponent’s 11, and there have simply been too many, at bad times.
Second set: Konta 4-6, 2-2 Svitolina* There is an absolute stonker of a point from Konta here, as she races back to chase down a lob, lifts up a defensive lob of her own, and then reaches Svitolina’s crosscourt backhand before thundering one of her own down the line. It doesn’t really help, and she eventually overhits a backhand to surrender the game.
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Second set: Konta* 4-6, 2-1 Svitolina Konta holds to 15 and wins the game with an ace, though until then it had been a real scrap. It’s been a fun match so far, and has potential to give us quite a bit more.
Second set: Konta 4-6, 1-1 Svitolina* A second fairly straightforward hold as the players rein in the throttle a little.
Second set: Konta* 4-6, 1-0 Svitolina For the first time, a game is won to love.
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Svitolina takes the first set 6-4!
First set: Konta 4-6 Svitolina* Konta’s thunderous backhand is a serious exocet, and when she hits it sweetly Svitolina cannot deal with it at all. She wins a couple of points with its assistance, including the first set point, but then on the second she opts for a slice, floats it long and that’s the set.
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First set: Konta* 4-5 Svitolina Svitolina will have to serve for the set, after Konta serves her first ace on her way to a relatively straightforward hold. The final point is won on the second serve, which Svitolina has been tucking into like they’re an all-you-can-eat buffet, but this time she significantly overhits her forehand.
First set: Konta 3-5 Svitolina* From 30-0 Konta turns the game around to eventually have a break point at 30-40. Svitolina wins it with an ace (Konta has had three break points, and laid a racket on one of the resulting serves), and the next after an excellent rally, and then Konta fails to land her next service return.
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First set: Konta* 3-4 Svitolina Another break! Svitolina breaks to 15 this time, pouncing on an indecisive volley when Konta could have killed the point to pass the Briton with a stretching crosscourt backhand. As the game ends, Konta is 11-6 up on both winners and unforced errors.
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First set: Konta 3-3 Svitolina* Konta starts the game with her two best points of the match so far, the first won with a vicious backhand down the line, the second with a matching forehand after manoeuvring her opponent out of position. Svitolina recovers to 40-30 at which Konta clicks back into gear with a massive winning forehand, and she takes the game from there to break back instantly. She may have hit more unforced errors than her opponent, but she is also 11-4 up on winners.
First set: Konta* 2-3 Svitolina Konta goes 0-30 down by overhitting a forehand to end a long rally, and Svitolina goes on to have the match’s first break point. Konta saves that one, but when she concedes another and fluffs her first serve the writing is on the wall. Svitolina takes the second serve early, slams it back with interest and Konta can’t get her response over the net. The key metric here is unforced errors: Konta has hit nine, and Svitolina four.
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First set: Konta 2-2 Svitolina* Tom Hiddlestone is once again in attendance, as he has been for each of Konta’s matches in this tournament, setting the tongues of tennis’s gossipmongers wildly wagging. Svitolina holds to 15, also hitting ferociously but also less error-strewn.
First set: Konta* 2-1 Svitolina There are two point-winning backhands here, one down the line at ferocious pace and one crosscourt with a fine angle. She holds to 15, and it’s been a very encouraging start.
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First set: Konta 1-1 Svitolina* Konta has a glimmer of a chance at 15-30, but from there Svitolina serves an ace, Konta misses a return and Svitolina serves another ace, and that’s the end of that.
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First set: Konta 1-0 Svitolina Not a perfect opening game from Konta, who hits a forehand wide, a first serve long and a backhand into the top of the net. But despite a couple of unforced errors it was a very promising start, the Briton hitting with power and depth.
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Warm-ups have been warmed up, and Konta will serve first as the match gets under way.
It is a very sunny day, and apparently quite still. The temperature in New York is apparently a pleasant 26C. Perhaps everyone is out enjoying the weather, which is why they are so late to take their seats. The stands are less filling up than very gradually de-emptying.
Elina Svitolina has an even briefer chat, in which she reveals how she managed to beat Konta on each of their four previous meetings: “I think I was really focused from the beginning and that’s what I’ve got to do today.”
Action on the show courts! Jo Konta gives a brief pre-match interview before going out:
I’m just looking forward to going out there, to playing on Ashe for the first time in this tournament and hopefully playing some great tennis. I know I’m going to be in for a tough match and my record hasn’t been great against her, but there’s always another day to try and I’m looking forward to doing that.
The live feed from Arthur Ashe has started. Play is due to get under way in eight minutes and there are about 35 people in the world’s largest tennis stadium.
The only senior match currently ongoing is on the Louis Armstrong Stadium, where the German No12 seeds, Andreas Mies and Kevin Krawietz, are playing Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa in the men’s doubles quarter-finals. The German’s lead 4-3 in the first set, with the match going with serve.
Here’s Kevin Mitchell’s quarter-final preview:
Hello world!
Day nine dawns, a day in which Roger Federer faces Grigor Dimitrov for the eighth time (he has lost two sets and no matches) and Stan Wawrinka faces Daniil Medvedev for the second time (having lost the first at Wimbledon a couple of years back). In the women’s quarter-finals, Serena Williams attempts to avenge her Miami Masters defeat to Qiang Wang. Meanwhile on the outer courts Britain’s Arthur Fery plays in the junior singles on Court 10 and the junior doubles on Court 7. Interesting fact: Fery’s dad, Loïc Fery, is chairman of French Ligue 2 football club Lorient.
Before all that, though, comes the latest chapter in the Jo Konta story, as the Briton seeks her first win against Elina Svitolina, at the fifth attempt, and it is here that my focus will initially fall. If Konta plays as well as she can and often does, it should be an absolute cracker. Welcome!
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