Johanna Konta: Pleased with my win; Andy Murray is so incredibly tenacious

Ninth seeded Johanna Konta says she was pleased with her first round win over countrywoman Heather Watson at the US Open on Tuesday. The former World No. 4 Konta needed a first set tie-break before coming through more comfortably in the second and winning 7-6, 6-1.

The 29 year old Konta, who admitted to sharing a good rapport with Watson off-the-court, spoke to the media about playing a fellow Brit and her performance in the match after her victory. "I think it was always going to be inevitably a bit more stressful. I think I was kind of anticipating that, expecting that. I just kind of wanted to put that to one side and enjoy playing a really good player, competing well. So I just, yeah, I was pleased with how I competed and kind of just asked that question from my opponent today of, for her to also keep raising her level the whole match."

Johanna Konta says Andy Murray's win shows his tenacity and perseverance

Konta was not the only big name from Great Britain to advance at the US Open on Tuesday - former World No. 1 Andy Murray was also won - coming back from two sets to love down to score a five-set win over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka. Konta did not watch the match but says the win showed just how tenacious Murray is as a player. "He's a champion of Grand Slams and gold medals because of the challenger he is. He's so incredibly tenacious. I didn't even see the match, but I assume that's just kind of what he brought to the table. He's, I mean, also overcoming the injury that he had. Just shows his tenacity and perseverance and love for his sport. I think, for that, he is regarded a sporting hero back home and rightly so."

One of the major events in recent days at the US Open has been the set-up of the new Professional Tennis Players Association by a group of ATP players, led by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil. The Brit is part of the WTA Player Council but says she does not have any details about the new association. "I don't know, because I actually don't know anything of it. The men haven't reached out to myself personally. I don't know if they have reached out to any of the other women.. I didn't even know it was happening until our CEO, Steve Simon, sent an e-mail to the player council of kind of opening up the conversation of how we felt about it, if there was any other thoughts that we had, if we felt we were well enough represented, if the player group felt like they were well enough represented... I think overall from what I have heard from players in general, I think the women are quite well represented. Then again, there is always room for improvement. I don't know what that improvement looks like, though."

Johanna Konta will next meet Romania's Sorana Cirstea, ranked No. 97, in the second round of the US Open.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3lGFfZg