2017 Us Open Tennis Championships follows the same old cliche of top-seeded players being ousted in the inaugural round. Johanna Konta was one of the favorites to go out there and do some impressive damage, at least for a while. Her shocking exit came after a lot of hype around her chances to produce a deep run at the US Open.
Currently ranked seventh in the world, Konta had to deal with Aleksandra Krunic (78 WTA) of Serbia in the round of 128. It should have been a warm-up for the tougher tests yet to come but, in the end, it turned out to be one of the biggest upsets of the tournament's first day.
After a solid season in 2017, she was aiming to get past the fourth round in New York, her best result to date, but it seems that now she will have to wait for at least one more year. On the other side of the net, Krunic, a 24-year-old from Serbia, entered the US Open after a decent run in Cincinnati where she stunned Jelena Ostapenko before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro.
Johanna Konta wasn't able to handle the leverage she has created
Prior to this match, there was no head to head to try making some assumption. Having a similar playing style with both of them relying on flat ground strokes, the match saw Konta, the 2017 Miami champion, and 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist, racing to a comfortable lead in the opening set.
Despite having a late comeback, Krunic lost the opening act by 6-4 putting her opponent in what seemed to be a winning position.
The 24-year-old went on elevating her game in the second set. An increased efficiency with her first serve was the main key that pushed the encounter into a decider. Without dropping her serve throughout the whole set, Krunic needed one break on Konta's serve to wrap up the set by 6-3.
The third set had Konta scrambling to keep her focus. On the other side, her opponent pressed the pedal even harder, squeezing out some winners. After more than two hours of play, Krunic went on converting the second match point she had.
Konta will have to shift her focus towards the Asian leg
Back in 2016, after a disappointing North American outdoor swing, Johanna Konta bounced back during the Asian leg of the WTA calendar.
She reached the quarterfinals in Wuhan (Premier 5) while in Beijing (Premier Mandatory) she made it to the final where she was a runner-up to Agnieszka Radwanska. So, there are some precious ranking points to defend if she wants to keep her feet inside the top 10.
