Ana Konjuh won her first round match at Wimbledon in straight sets over Karin Knapp to reach the second round.

Konjuh grabs three breaks on her way to first set win

Konjuh has been slumping lately, but this match was an opportunity to get a badly needed win and after just two games, she showed her grass superiority in this matchup, breaking Knapp to take a 2-1 lead. As a pattern of her inconsistency, she gave that break right back, Knapp winning a 10-point game on her fourth break chance. After exchanging holds, Konjuh put her foot down, breaking Knapp again to take a 4-3 lead. She stretched her lead with a hold and closed out the set with another break, sending a message to her Italian opponent, winning the set 6-3 in 38 minutes.

Ana Konjuh of Croatia hits a forehand during the Ladies Singles second round match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on day five of the 2016 French Open at Roland Garros on May 26, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Ana Konjuh of Croatia hits a forehand during the Ladies Singles second round match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on day five of the 2016 French Open at Roland Garros on May 26, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Konjuh seizes late break, wins set by identical score as the first, moves on to second round

The match had been delayed due to the weather, one game and three points played yesterday, but Konjuh seemed to find her rhythm late in the opening set and it carried over to the second. Knapp also settled in nicely on serve and saved the only break point either player faced through the first seven games, this coming at 2-all.

With the server in full control, the second and, as it would turn out, decisive break point opportunity of the set came as a bit of a surprise when Konjuh had it leading 4-3 15-40 on Knapp's serve. She was able to capitalize and take a 5-3 lead. Winner of Nottingham last year on grass, Konjuh's full weapons were on display as she closed out the match to 15 on her serve, taking it 6-3 in 32 minutes and dodging yet another delay caused by the rain. 

Ana Konjuh of Croatia plays a backhand in her match against Heather Watson of Great Britain on Day One of The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016 on May 08, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
Ana Konjuh of Croatia plays a backhand in her match against Heather Watson of Great Britain on Day One of The Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016 on May 08, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)

Radwanska next

For the fourth consecutive major, Konjuh reached the second round, a sign of slow, if not intermittent progress. She will face third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 64. Radwanska also avoided being plagued by more rain delays, winning against Kateryna Kozlova 6-1, 6-2. This is the first meeting between the two players. A win for Konjuh would equal her best result at a major, having also reached the third round of Wimbledon in 2014.