Brits Falter in Aussie Open First Week

Victoria may have entered a five-day lockdown as of Friday morning, but Melbourne locals managed to enjoy four days of highly-competitive, corona-free tennis at the Australian Open. Unfortunately for myself and those who attended as fans of British tennis, lockdown came a few days too late.

Living in London, watching the Aussie Open is a big commitment. It takes a lot of preparation and to stay up until the early hours requires a regimented routine consisting of day-time naps and several cups of coffee. So it came as a real kick in the teeth that Britains best chance for success, Johanna Konta, had to retire from her first-round encounter against Slovenian Kaja Juvan. After winning the opening set 6-4, the 13th seed was broken early on in the second and subsequently retired after claiming to have pulled an ab in her second service game.

However, the 29-year-old has entered next weeks WTA 250 event at Melbourne Park. Some fans may question the seriousness of the injury if she can play consecutive weeks. Personally, seeing the pure shock and emotion on the former semi-finalists face showed her legitimate disappointment at being forced to retire. The gut-shot of seeing the country’s main hope leave the tournament in under an hour would have been softened if Australian Open’s feel-good story Francesca Jones had won her Grand Slam debut. Jones, born with a rare genetic condition which means she has four fingers and seven toes, had built up a large following after some outstanding displays in qualifying. However, her run ended with American big-hitter Shelby Rogers winning 6-4 6-1 in round one. Despite the loss, it was good to see the 20-year-old hold her own, primarily in the first set against an experienced top 100 player. It will be good to see if she can now break into the top 100 and make Wimbledon main draw on merit rather than relying on a wildcard entry.

Guernsey-born Heather Watson joined Jones and Konta in exiting the tournament after a second-round defeat to inform Estonian Anett Kontaveit. After out-serving one-half of the Pliskova sisters on Tuesday, she came up against a gutsy Kontaveit who came from a set down to oust Watson in three hard-fought sets. It was disappointing to see Heather lose such a close contest, but it’s nice to see her still going strong in the women doubles. Partnered by promising Canadian youngster Leylah Fernandez, the pair have reached the third round knocking out 10th seeds Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai along the way.

Katie Boulter was the only other Brit to enter in the women’s draw. A 6-1 6-4 defeat to Russian Daria Kasatkina on Monday put paid to her Aussie Open hopes. It had been a difficult few years for Katie with injuries halting her promising development. A good showing in the warm-up event which included beating Cori Gauff and pushing Naomi Osaka in three competitive sets signals a change in fortune for the Leicester native.

On the men’s side of the draw, the only two British entries faced off against each other in round one on court 8. Evans, coming off his first ATP tour title last week, looked fatigued as he succumbed to his compatriot in four sets: 6-4 4-6 6-4 7-5. The win was Norrie’s fourth over Evans, but the manner of the defeat asks the question: does entering and being successful at a tournament the week before a major is beneficial? Something that has always intrigued me.

Norrie went on to beat Russian Roman Safiullin in four sets on Margaret Court Arena. But as is typical for British tennis, any chance of progressing to the second week is highly doubtful as he must defeat Rafal Nadal of all people to make it there. There is still a lot of British representation left in the Men’s doubles, with Jamie Murray, Joe Salisbury, Dom Inglot, Luke Bambridge, Dan Evans and the Skupski brothers still going strong. So there’s still plenty to watch in the second week of this year’s first major.

Patrick Stenson is The Slice’s British correspondent with top wit and banter.

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