Johanna Konta fails to recapture 2019 Grand Slam magic as she makes early Australian Open exit

Johanna Konta failed to capture her Grand Slam magic from 2019 as she crashed out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle to to Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
The British number one was seeded 12th but expectations were tempered by the fact she had only played one match since a quarter-final exit at the US Open in early September.
A knee injury curtailed her season and Konta revealed last month that she might not even make the trip Down Under.
She will be heading home a lot sooner than she would have hoped after going down 6-4, 6-2 to world number 78 Jabeur, who has the type of unpredictable game that even a match-tight Konta finds hard to deal with.
Karolína Pliskova is safely through though after she negotiated a tricky opening round match against Kristina Mladenovic.
RELATED: Coco Gauff admits she was ‘more confident’ this time after second Venus Williams triumph
The second seed made a powerful start to the match, winning the first five games. Mladenovic rallied in the second set, but Pliskova was still too strong and completed a 6-1, 7-6 win.
Elsewhere, Belinda Bencic was in typically efficient form as she downed Anna Karolina Schmiedlová 6-3, 7-5 in her first round match.
Follow us on Twitter @T365Official and like our Facebook page.
Latest
-
Davis Cup
Dan Evans owns ‘hardest loss to take’ in Davis Cup tie against Colombia
Britain were handed the nightmare trip after failing to qualify for the quarter-finals last year.
-
News
Casper Ruud out to emulate Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem
Casper Ruud believes he can win on any surface.
-
Wimbledon
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina begs Wimbledon to maintain ban on Russian and Belarusian players
Elina Svitolina has begged Wimbledon to maintain the ban.
-
Australian Open
Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open win was a ratings flop for American TV
ESPN have released their viewing figures for the Australian Open final and they suggest just 439,000 viewers watched in America.
-
ATP Tour
Felix Auger-Aliassime backed to win Wimbledon in 2023
Felix Auger-Aliassime has been backed to make his Grand Slam breakthrough in 2023.
-
News
Serena Williams opens up on Will Smith’s Oscar slap
Serena Williams says that we are all human and make mistakes in the heat of the moment.
-
Tennis News
Nick Kyrgios escapes conviction despite pleading guilty to assaulting ex-girlfriend
Nick Kyrgios saw the common assault charge against him dismissed.
-
Davis Cup
Great Britain braced for ‘complicated’ Davis Cup qualifier in Colombia
Matches will be played at an altitude of 2,600 metres and with pressureless balls.
-
WTA Tour
Heather Watson ends her quarter-final drought with win in Thailand – ‘It was just survival of the fittest’
Heather Watson will now face Chinese seventh seed Xinyu Wang.
-
Tennis News
Toni Nadal shares thoughts on fans’ hostility toward Novak Djokovic as well as Rafael Nadal’s future
Toni Nadal on why Novak Djokovic has so many detractors.