Jo Konta breaks French Open curse and sees off Antonia Lottner in straight sets
The British No.1 had lost her previous four opening-round matches at Roland Garros but she ended that jinx with a 6-4 6-4 victory over the German qualifier
JOHANNA KONTA has finally broken her French Open duck at the fifth attempt.
The British No.1 had lost four successive opening-round matches at Roland Garros between 2015 and 2018.
Yet she has now enjoyed the sweet taste of success in Paris with a 6-4 6-4 triumph over German qualifier Antonia Lottner, 22.
This is, by far, the best spell that Konta, 28, has experienced on clay in her career.
Since her exploits at the Fed Cup over Easter, she has reached two clay-court finals - in Morocco and Rome - and gained sufficient confidence that she can excel on this surface.
And this result bodes well for her chances of a decent run at the second grand slam of the year.
In the second round, she will face American wildcard Lauren Davis, who was a 6-2 6-4 winner over Czech player Kristyna Pliskova.
Konta delivered an ace on the opening point but then surrendered her first service game after being distracted by something on court.
She felt compelled to notify the umpire with her displeasure.
In fact, neither player managed to find any rhythm with only seven breaks of serve in 10 games in the opening - even the second set opened with successive breaks.
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It settled down thereafter and Konta showed her dominance and class in the second set to prevail for the first time on this surface at the highest level.
Meanwhile, Czech No.6 seed Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the French Open with a left forearm injury.
Kvitova, who was scheduled to meet Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the first round, will be replaced by the Slovenian lucky loser Kaja Juvan.
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