Konta cruises into round two in Birmingham
Konta reach the second round of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anett Kontaveit.
LONDON (AFP) - Johanna Konta made a seamless transition from clay to grass by easing into the second round of the Birmingham Classic with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Estonian Anett Kontaveit on Monday.
Konta was making her first outing since reaching the French Open semi-finals and the seventh seed maintained her fine form to outclass the world number 20 in an hour and 12 minutes.
"I m so pleased to get started on the grass, this is such a privileged time for the Brits so I m happy," said Konta.
World number three Karolina Pliskova also eased into round two with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Russia s Margarita Gasparyan pulled off an upset in the opening contest of the day, defeating fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4.
Svitolina has been struggling with a knee injury of late, but insisted she is pain free and fit for Wimbledon in two weeks time.
"I feel better, definitely," said the Ukranian. It hasn t been easy for the past three months I would say, mentally as well. So I m just happy to be on court playing and without the pain."
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka also exited the tournament, showing her frustration as she lost a break advantage in the final set to go down 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7/1) to Hsieh Su-wei.
There was disappointment too for British number two Heather Watson, who let a lead slip in a 3-6 6-3 6-4 defeat by Barbora Strycova.
Watson was unhappy with a number of line calls and declined to shake the umpire s hand at the end of the match.
World number one Naomi Osaka will open her campaign on Tuesday against Greece s Maria Sakkari.
