Johanna Konta will be the first British woman to contest a French Open quarter-final in 36 years when she takes on Sloane Stephens on Tuesday and the last to do so, Jo Durie, is delighted to see her compatriot thrive on the clay courts of Paris.
Konta stormed into the final eight with a straight sets win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic on Sunday afternoon, thumping 33 winners past her opponent on Suzanne-Lenglen.
The British No. 1 can expect to be bumped up to the new Philippe-Chatrier court for her quarter-final encounter with last year’s runner-up and she admitted she hadn’t even managed to find her way inside the newly-built stadium during her stay at Roland Garros.
Durie was the last British woman to compete at this stage back in 1983 and went on to reach the semi-finals before falling to Yugoslavia’s Mima Jausovec but she sees no reason why her compatriot can’t go on and win the whole thing.
‘Looking down the draw she has beaten most of these players and that’s important,’ Durie, who beat American fourth seed Tracy Austin in the 1983 French Open quarter-finals, said. ‘But there will be a lot of them who might study the draw and think “Why not me?”
‘I’m very pleased for her. It’s easy to forget that she has qualified here before and reached the third round of Rome before this year so it’s not a total surprise. I think there was this barrier with her which always bigger at the Grand Slams about winning the first round, so it can make you more tense. She had a bit of grief from the press about it last year.
‘In the women’s game you don’t have to adapt as much from playing on hard court, but she has done a few things subtly, such as covering her forehand more and giving it some extra spin. The forehand looks more solid and she has done a great job hitting it cross court and pinning her opponent in the corner.
‘There has been a great combination of patience and aggression, which is what you need on clay. The serve has been impressive, it was virtually rearing up over Donna’s head to day, she’s not just trying to hit it hard.’
Another former British No. 1, Annabel Croft, has been equally impressed and believes Konta is operating at an even higher level than when she stormed to the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2017.
Croft told Eurosport: ‘I’m not sure I’ve seen Jo Konta play this well to be honest, particularly on a clay court.
‘It’s back to that sort of form that got her to the semis at the Australian Open and Wimbledon as well. But I think her level is even up a couple of notches.’
Watch every minute and match from Roland-Garros 2019 live – anytime and anywhere – on Eurosport and Eurosport Player.
