Watch the moment British number one Johanna Konta comes from behind to beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 5-7 6-4 6-0 and reach the Eastbourne quarter-finals.
MATCH REPORT: Johanna Konta beats Petra Kvitova
Available to UK users only.
| Wimbledon on the BBC |
|---|
| Venue: All England Club, London Dates: 27 June – 10 July |
| Live: Follow on BBC TV, BBC Radio and online with further coverage across Red Button, Connected TVs and BBC Sport website. |
Britain’s world number 775 Marcus Willis is one match from Wimbledon’s main draw after beating Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the second qualifying round.
Willis, 25, won 7-5 6-4 against teenager Rublev, the world number 203.
The Slough-born British number 23 will now take on Daniil Medvedev, who was disqualified from a tournament in April for comments to an umpire.
Fellow Britons Harriet Dart and Edward Corrie are also one win away from the main draw.
Dart, the 19-year-old world number 448 and British number 11, beat Japanese 10th seed Risa Ozaki 6-4 6-3 and will take on Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday.
Corrie, the world number 358, is also still in contention after knocking out 10th seed Michael Berrer, but Gabriella Taylor, Joe Salisbury, Daniel Cox, Katie Boulder, Lisa Whybourn and Freya Christie all saw their singles campaigns ended.
British number one Johanna Konta came from behind to beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and reach the quarter-finals in Eastbourne.
Konta won 5-7 6-4 6-0 against the Czech fifth seed and will now face either Andrea Petkovic or Ekaterina Makarova.
Konta, 24, lost the first set despite leading 5-2 but broke Kvitova’s serve in the fifth game of the second on her way to levelling the match.
The 11th seed then dominated the third set to reach the last eight.
“Both of us were playing at a really good level in parts and struggling to keep that up in others,” said Konta. “I think I just managed to string a few points together today.
| Match stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kvitova | Konta | |
| 6 | Aces | 5 |
| 4 | Double faults | 5 |
| 70 | First serve percentage | 72 |
| 3/10 | Break points converted | 6/12 |
| 56% | First serve points won | 69% |
| 42% | Second serve points won | 35% |
“There are not words big enough to describe the support you the crowd have shown me. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.”
It is Konta’s ninth win against a top-20 ranked opponent in the past 12 months – a run that includes successes against Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci. She has risen from 146th in the world to 18th over that period.
Konta twice served for the first set after forcing a number of early errors from Kvitova but the Czech won five straight games to claim the opener.
The Briton steadied her game at the start of the second set and, after breaking serve, levelled the match on her third set point.
Konta, who was seeded 17th for Wimbledon earlier in the day, then won the deciding set to love to qualify for the quarter-finals for the second successive year at her hometown tournament.
Kvitova – who had won the pair’s only previous meeting with a 6-3 7-5 last-16 victory at September’s US Open – faded in the final set. After her second-round exit at the hand of Latvian world number 36 in Birmingham last week, she will need to improve to mount a title challenge at Wimbledon.
Elsewhere at Eastborne, top seed Agnieszka Radwanska saw off former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-3, while former world number one Caroline Wozniacki fells to Puerto Rico’s world number 43 Monica Puig.
British number four Dan Evans is out of the Nottingham Open after losing 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to Uruguayan world number 25 Pablo Cuevas.
Evans, 26, who has beaten a player inside the world’s top 25 only once, was two points away from his first-ever ATP quarter-final on grass.
Second seed Cuevas will face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the last eight.
Baghdatis saved two match points against America’s Sam Querrey on his way to a 1-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 victory.
Watch the best of the action as top seed Agnieszka Radwanska beats Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-3 in round three at Eastbourne.
WATCH MORE: Murray wins fifth Queen’s title
Available to UK users only.
| Wimbledon on the BBC |
|---|
| Venue: All England Club, London Dates: 27 June – 10 July |
| Live: Follow on BBC TV, BBC Radio and online with further coverage across Red Button, Connected TVs and BBC Sport website. |
Andy Murray has been seeded second in the men’s singles at Wimbledon and fellow Briton Johanna Konta has been seeded 17th in the women’s competition.
World number two Murray, the 2013 champion, has reached the finals of the Australian and French Opens this year.
Konta has had a rapid rise to world number 18, having been 47th at the end of last season.
The 25-year-old achieved her best result by reaching this year’s Australian Open semi-finals.
Konta, born in Sydney, Australia, is the first British female to be seeded at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984.
Six-time singles champion and 2015 winner Serena Williams is the top seed in the women’s competition and Novak Djokovic, who is going for a third successive title, is the number one men’s player.
Murray, beaten by Djokovic in the two Grand Slam finals of this year so far, would not meet the Serb until the final at Wimbledon as they are in opposite sides of the draw.
Swiss Stan Wawrinka moves up to fourth in the absence of the injured Rafael Nadal.
Frenchman Richard Gasquet, a quarter-finalist at Queen’s club this month, jumps from a world ranking of 10 to a seeding of seven as the men’s seedings take into account recent grass-court form.
In the men’s doubles, Briton Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, who won the 2016 Australian Open together, are seeded third. Another Briton Dominic Inglot and Canada’s Daniel Nestor are seeded ninth.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
Murray is seeded to play either Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals, but some of the changes could make life trickier for the top four in earlier rounds.
Richard Gasquet is now a potential quarter-final opponent, and Nick Kyrgios’s jump from a ranking of 18 to a seeding of 15 means he is now projected to play one of the top four in the fourth round.
Being one place outside the top 16 does mean Konta is seeded to face a slightly higher ranked opponent in the third round, but she would be protected from the very top seeds until at least the fourth round.
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Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers investigates how the world’s best use the scoreboard to guide their strategies
The scoreboard dictates strategy a lot more than you think.
Players need just four points to win a game, but there are actually 18 different point scoreboard combinations that represent being ahead, behind or equal with the opponent. Each point won or lost alters the percentages of closing out the game, directly affecting the strategy players employ based on the pressure and risk the scoreboard delivers.
An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the current Top 10 players in the world, and their performance at each individual point score for the past 18 months, highlights two critical percentages that have a snowball effect on their overall strategies. The current Top 10 players included in the analysis are Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet.
The first obvious percentage to consider is the current score. The second more important percentage that is often overlooked is the “gap” number, which is all about what happens next. If players win or lose the point, what is the “percentage point gap” between those two future, possible scores. That’s where the secret sauce exists.
The gap number is all about risk assessment. The higher the number, the more risk there is, and the more players should gravitate to higher-percentage primary patterns of play. The lower the number, the less inherent risk is involved, which enables players to dip into their secondary bag of tricks, surprising the opponent with a change-up play.
Five Crucial Scores When Serving*
| Score | Win Point, Likelihood To Win Game | Lose Point, Likelihood To Win Game | Percentage Point Gap |
| 30/40 | Deuce, 79% | Game, 0% | 79 |
| 15/30 | 30/30, 97% | 15/40, 35% | 62 |
| 0/30 | 15/30, 65% | 0/40, 21% | 44 |
| 15/15 | 30/15, 93% | 15/30, 65% | 28 |
| 0/0 | 15/0, 93% | 0/15, 73% | 20 |
*Stats based on current Top 10 players from January 2015 to present.
The following assessment provides a strategic roadmap for players at all levels of the game to find the right strategy based on the future “percentage gap” number at each score.
HIGH RISK (gap above 50 percentage points)
30/40, Ad Out, 15/30, 15/40
Interesting to note that these points are all played in the Ad court. Making a first serve here is critical. Typically it will be directed at the less potent backhand return, and the server will look for a “Serve +1” forehand to attack right back through the Ad court behind a right-handed opponent. The ideal outcome will be a forced error, much preferred over hitting a winner or trying to outlast an opponent by waiting for an unforced error.
MEDIUM RISK (gap 25 – 50 percentage points)
30/30, 0/30, Deuce, 0/40, 0/15, 15/15
Players will still be gravitating to higher percentage patterns here, beginning with a first serve in play. It’s then all about targeting the opponent’s weaker side and still looking to force errors. On tour, the average baseline win percentage is typically around 46 per cent, while the net offers a much higher return at 66 per cent. Looking for a short ball and approaching with a big forehand to the backhand is a really good fit here. Keeping great court position around the baseline and removing time in the opponent’s preparation are also key factors.
LOWER RISK (gap 2 – 25 percentage points)
40/30, Ad In, 0/0, 30/15, 15/0, 40/15, 30/0, 40/0
Being ahead in the score delivers lower overall risk and enables players to play bigger and bolder than normal. Aces and rally winners will live more here, as well as clever secondary patterns to the opponent’s strengths.