Williams was nearly bageled in the second set by a relentless Konta, who forced the seven-time Grand Slam victor across the court, but managed a mini-fight back before falling after one hour and 19 minutes.
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She was taking a liking to Williams’ serve as well and got her first break in the third game to lead 2-1 and then was grateful for a raft of unforced errors as she got a second break to lead 5-2.
Konta, who was born in Sydney and represented Australia until 2012, returned to the same court where she practised as a youngster to beat Williams 6-4 6-2. “I have just to take it like it is and go ahead”. “I’d like to one day spend most of my time on these stages”.
“When I’m aggressive and I have depth on my shots, it’s just good to have that variety to bring (players) in, to move forward myself”, said Sharapova, who next faces American Lauren Davis.
“Yeah, I had a few problems but, well, I think I’m recovered now”, she said of the foot problem, “so very good”.
The four-time Australian Open champion, playing his 65th consecutive major, advanced 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
“My response is that there’s always going to be, especially these days when there is a lot of speculation – this is now the main story in tennis, in sports world – there’s going to be a lot of allegations”, Djokovic said.
Key stat: Williams’ serve, which has become vulnerable late in her career, was broken five times as she won just 52 percent of points on her first serve delivery.
Konta will now play China’s Saisai Zheng, who is not to be confused with Shuai Zhang, the qualifier who eliminated second seed Simona Halep on Tuesday in a dramatic 6-4, 6-3 upset. “You can only lose the set, ‘” she said.
“Even if she’s playing with one leg out there, you’ve got to really take care of things on your own, because she’s an incredible player”.
Although Konta’s strengths are her serve and her baseline game she can also play with a delicate touch and is a fine mover around the court.
Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori was another early victor on day three as he beat American Austin Krajicek 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, and Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic 6-4 6-0 6-3.
Now ranked 47th, 98 spots higher than this time last year, she upset current world number three Garbine Muguruza at the US Open last year en route to her first round of 16 at a major.
In 2016, she’s 0-2 after also losing in a warmup tournament at Auckland, New Zealand.
No. 12 Belinda Bencic had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Timea Babos and 92nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest wins since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major victor and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.
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No. 13 Roberta Vinci beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to advance, and is a potential fourth-round rival for No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2 in a match featuring two former Wimbledon finalists.
