Johanna Konta stormed into the last-16 of the French Open in double quick time as she beat both Viktoria Kuzmova and the light at Roland Garros.
Nicolas Mahut and Leonardo Mayer’s lengthy four-setter on the scenic greehouse stadium Suzanne-Mathieu saw the British No. 1 arriving rather late on court – the match started at 7.34pm – with a potential danger that she would be forced to return on Saturday afternoon in order to conclude her match.
With her round four opponent Donna Vekic blasting her way past Belinda Bencic in a 6-4 6-1 win before Konta had even started, she could have been at a serious disadvantage had she been forced to return to finish the match on her day off.
But the 28-year-old was in no mood to hang around and smashed through the Slovak 6-2 6-1 in just 54 minutes. The second set lasted only 22 minutes.
Her 21-year-old opponent Kuzmova is a lover of William Shakespeare and has been reading Hamlet for the fifth time during the French Open. Unfortunately, it was not to be for the Slovak.
It’s the first time Konta has been to the last-16 of a Grand Slam since she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon back in 2017. On that run, she defeated Croatia’s Vekic on her way to the final four.
Given her new-found prowess on the clay, Konta may fancy her chances of going even further at Roland Garros. And if she continues in this form, she may well do just that.
