Johanna Konta’s French Open dream is over after she lost in straight sets to Marketa Vondrousova in the semi-finals. Konta looked to have finally found her feet on clay after previous disappointments at Roland Garros and led 5-3 in both sets. However, she was unable to close out the sets and the Czech Republic teenager ran out a 7-5 7-6 (7-2) winner in Paris.
The British number one earned three set points in the opener but failed to convert, seemingly tightening up despite her experience, while she also served for the second set. However, Vondrousova, who will now play Australian eighth seed Ashleigh Barty in the final, held her nerve to hit back and force the tie-break. She took that comfortably and afterwards admitted her delight at getting through the encounter.
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“It was a very tough match today,” she said. “I was just happy that I kept my nerve at the end. I’m so happy with everything here.” Despite the loss, Konta proved that she can play on the slowest surface and admitted her pride after the contest. “It is always tough to lose a match, any match, and always tough to lose matches where you have opportunities and chances,” she said.
“But I feel very confident and assured that I did the best I could out there. It’s hard to lose any match like this but my opponent played well and I’m proud of how I played.” Barty beat unseeded American teenager Amanda Anisimova 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3 in the other semi-final.
