Konta’s hopes in NY were boosted by the exit of French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.
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“I feel overwhelmingly happy”, said Konta, who faces Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the next round.
Isner, 31, is 3-6 in U.S. Open third-round matches.
“I’m still constantly working on recovering”. “It’s a management process more than anything”. I did the best that I could with the cards that I had. Basically my heart rate spiked and I couldn’t really control my breathing.
Konta received ice bags to help cool her body from the chief umpire, and waited for assistance from the doctor before making her way back to her chair. I was just managing the best that I could with what I had today. She called the trainers, as well. “All any of us can do is just deal with it the best that we can”, she concluded. Fortunately for her, newly-married Cibulkova hit 54.
The British number one was a set point down in the second set when she dropped to the floor, red in the face and struggling to breathe, with nearly 15 minutes passing before play resumed.
“I felt I did a good job staying focused on the things I want to execute and how I wanted to play,”Konta said”.
She went back on court but double-faulted to hand the second set to 71st-ranked Pironkova, then was taken to the locker room before the start of the third.
“I have played her once before actually, in my first Australian Open qualifying, so I do know her and I have been on court with her”, Konta said.
A year ago, Konta needed to qualify to get into the U.S. Open. “She played the same way that she played before”.
She added: “With that toilet break, I think the match was stopped for just too long”.
But ruthless Konta did not give away a single break point.
Four minutes passed before medical staff got to Konta, who had rolled onto her back by then.
Konta had eased through the first set, via two breaks of serve, but was less convincing in the second as her physical problems began to develop. She seems to have fully recovered.
Pironkova said Konta deserved her win but she described the conditions as “not that bad compared to other days”. She used less pace, but great placement.
Meanwhile, her nearest peers are struggling.
Konta’s prevailing sentiment after a scary-strange, hard-earned 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory?
Next up for Wozniacki is Romanian Monica Niculescu, a 6-0 6-1 victor against compatriot Ana Bogdan.
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On Arthur Ashe, the world No1 Novak Djokovic was gifted a second match when the unseeded and temperamental Russian Mikhail Youzhny retired with a leg injury trailing 2-4 in the first set after only 32 minutes of tennis.
