Johanna Konta has kept British hopes alive in the US Open qualifiers, as she saw off Chang Kai-chen to progress into the second round.
The only Brit to win at qualifying yesterday, her success followed the losses of Naomi Broady, James Ward and Josh Goodall, with Konta bridging a rankings gap of 91 places to win 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
The Australian-born 21-year-old, who switched allegiance this year having lived in England since 2005, now faces Kurumi Nara from Japan in a second-round match later today. The US Open first round proper then begins on Monday, running until September 9.
Konta’s spirited performance against eighth seed Chang was reminiscent of the impressive play she demonstrated when making her grand slam main draw debut at Wimbledon in June as a wild card.
Unfortunately Broady could not share in the success and was seen off 6-4 6-2 by China’s Yi-Fan Xu.
Elsewhere, Britain’s Heather Watson and New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic progressed in the WTA Texas Open in Dallas, reaching the doubles semi-finals with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Jennifer Elie and Asia Muhammed from the US.
Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
