Konta sets up Halep clash in Madrid

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Last Updated: 06/05/19 11:20am

Johanna Konta reached her first clay-court final in Morocco at the weekend Johanna Konta reached her first clay-court final in Morocco at the weekend

Johanna Konta reached her first clay-court final in Morocco at the weekend

Johanna Konta will meet former world No 1 Simona Halep in the Madrid Open second round after she defeated Alison Riske 6-4 6-1 – a day after losing in the Morocco Open final.

The British No 1, who was beaten by Maria Sakkari in Rabat, overcame the difficult schedule and change in continent to beat the world No 49 in convincing fashion and continue her good form on clay.

Konta has now already won the same number of matches on the surface this season as in both of the previous two.

“Saturday was a long day for me and Maria (Sakkari), we went straight to the airport and got a 9pm flight that got in around 11:30pm and I got to bed two hours later,” Konta said.

“I came out here today and hit for about half an hour beforehand. It’s the quickest turnaround I’ve had in my career.

“Conditions are very different, the ball flies a bit and the clay is not quite the same. I thought I handled myself pretty well out there.

“The scheduling is not ideal but we had to complete the first round matches today. Maria was in the same boat.”

Konta showed no apparent sign of fatigue in her victory against Alison Riske Konta showed no apparent sign of fatigue in her victory against Alison Riske

Konta showed no apparent sign of fatigue in her victory against Alison Riske

The 27-year-old will now aim to improve on her impressive record against 2018 French Open champion Halep, who she has beaten on three of four previous encounters.

Halep, who is making her clay-court debut this season in the Spanish capital this week, defeated Margarita Gasparyan 6-0 6-4.

Sixth seed Elina Svitolina, who has been struggling with a knee injury, was knocked out by unseeded Pauline Parmentier 6-4 7-6 (8-6), while 13th seed Madison Keys lost 3-6 6-4 6-1 against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova saved four match points to avoid a shock early exit with a comeback 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win against Dayana Yastremska.

Caroline Wozniacki retired due to a back injury after losing the opening three games of her match against Alize Cornet, but there was no surprise defeat for Naomi Osaka as the world No 1 beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 7-6 (8-6).

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