In this first round clash, Australian Open debutant Johanna Konta faced of against the eight seed, Venus Williams. After just under 80 minutes, it was the Brit who progressed to the second round, winning 6-4, 6-2.
Konta Takes The Set, With Help From Error-Prone Williams
At the start of the match both players looked to gain momentum, with both of them managing to hold their opening service games. The first break of serve came in the third game, when a couple of errors from the American allowed Konta to take break point.
From here, the British player looked to have control of the match, holding her serve twice before getting the double break. An error prone Williams, looked far from the player she was last year and at 5-2 down, it did not look like there was any hope for her.
However, the nerves of serving for the first set against her idol seemed to get too Konta. Despite having set point, the British number one failed to hold her serve, giving Williams one of the breaks back and a little bit of hope that she'd get back in the set.
The next game the former world number one, consolidated the break by holding her serve, putting pressure on the 24 year old's service game. This time though, Konta held her serve to love, winning the opening set 6-4.
Konta Too Strong For Williams
The British number one got the second set off to a strong start breaking Williams in the very first game. After consolidating the break, Konta raced too a 5-0 lead, breaking her 35-year-old opponent's serve two more times in the process.
With the match looking like it was over, Williams managed to break Konta when she was serving for the set. With a game under her belt, the American then went on to hold her serve for the first time in the set.
Konta was once again serving for the set. After saving two break points, she managed to hold her service game, and take the set with her first set point. In an hour and eighteen minutes, Konta had defeated her idol 6-4, 6-2, moving into the second round where she will play Saisai Zheng of China.
During her interview after the match the British number one said that when she saw the draw, she had just hoped to stay out on the court for more than an hour. Showing that even she was not expecting to beat the former Grand Slam champion.
Match Stats
Konta was the better of the two players when it came to serving, hitting five aces and one double fault. Williams hit one ace and one double fault.
Williams hit 20 unforced errors during the match, Konta only hit 17.
The British number one was more efficient at converting break points, with a break point percentage of 63, compared to the American's 50 percent.