Johanna Konta, the world no. 8 and the seventh seed at Roland Garros had her clay court season coming to a dramatical end earlier today in Paris. There is no secret that the European red dirt is not her best surface. Even so, the opening round saw the British no. 1 losing after being a set up against a seemingly unknown player ranked currently ranked outside the top 100.
Su-Wei Hsieh (109 WTA) has delivered a shock in women's singles contest by edging Konta at the end of a thrilling encounter. It also extended the lack of success for the British in the French capital.
It's her third participation on the main draw, each time being knocked out in the opening round.
The match had an unexpected turnaround
The upsets are perhaps the most thrilling moments a Grand Slam can produce. And the current edition of the french open is gathering some of these unexpected events under its belt. After the world no. 1 shocking defeat, Konta makes it to the list. Against the Asian ranked 109th in the world things went well in the opening set. Konta took the opening act by 6-1 in a bit under half an hour of play. Nothing could have anticipated how the events were about to change.
The second set went toe to toe being decided on a tie-break. Su-Wei Hsieh dominated in the tie-break winning it by 7-2 thus pushing the encounter into a third set.
The 31-year-old kept Johanna Konta outside the comfort zone thus leading the action. In the end, she capped a tremendous comeback by winning the set with 6-4. For Konta is just another disappointing outcome on the clay court. Still, the upset is huge by comparing their place in the ranking. The other side is that Konta had no luster whatsoever during the clay season.
Konta has to work even more to be a top player
The loss will prevent Konta from climbing even higher in the general ranking. Among the top-ranked players, she was the only one who had nothing to defend from last year. In modern tennis, a top player must acquire a particular set of skills that will allow a certain level of mobility on all surfaces.
Konta did some great things during the first few months of the season capping all that with a breakthrough success in Miami where she won the title.
It's a bitter conclusion to the clay season, a truth that she must accept. Now she'll shift focus to the grass season perhaps targeting a special result at Wimbledon. On home soil, the third Grand Slam of the year could have Konta in a winning position. The early exit in Paris gives her plenty of time to assess and adjust the strategy for the upcoming months.
