Johanna Konta is out of the US Open after losing 6-4, 7-5 to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the fourth round.
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The result ends Britain’s interest in the women’s singles at Flushing Meadows while Sevastova advances to her first major quarter-final.
Sevastova will play either Madison Keys or Caroline Wozniacki after becoming the first Latvian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since 1994.
Since Wimbledon, Konta has played five tournaments, travelling to Stanford, Montreal, Rio for the Olympics and Cincinnati, before finally heading to NY. “I really am happy with how I was able to come back from that 3-0 down”.
It was evident that the Latvian was extremely nervous, with a poor drop shot when leading 15-0 getting Konta in the game, and after the Brit saved a match point with a backhand victor, Sevastova became hesitant and a lob victor by Konta handed the break back.
Underwhelmed, however, by a college course in management, she returned in January 2015, initially at a lower level, and this year in the grand slams. In the victory, Sevastova won 61 percent of her first serve points and 40 percent of her second serve points.
Konta held just four service games and made 34 unforced errors as Sevastova’s deft touch, especially her drop shots, left her frequently flat-footed.
The shadow cast by the new roof on Ashe appeared to be playing havoc with both players, though, with 12 breaks of serve in the match overall.
“I had a lot of injuries”.
The Latvian blasted one short forehand straight into her opponent’s body and then twice had the chance for a knock-out, opening up match points at 5-3 and 5-4. Remember just this time a year ago she had played her way through qualifying before losing to Petra Kvitova at the same stage.
In Konta’s second-round match, the Australian Open semifinalist had collapsed to the court with trouble breathing, but she said there weren’t any significant lingering issues Sunday.
Sevastova, who’s ranked 48th, was such an unknown coming into the U.S. Open that initially her picture wasn’t included in the official tournament app. “I was injured and not having fun and I was kind of depressed, but now I’m back”.
“I know it sounds bad, but honestly, at this point I’m like, I really don’t care what my ranking is”, she said.
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She’ll face second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-5.
