Konta bows out of US Open in 4th round
— -- NEW YORK -- Johanna Konta's US Open challenge fell flat as she succumbed to a straight-sets defeat to 48th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Briton was out-of-sorts in a subdued performance on Sunday as the Latvian broke her seven times to seal a 6-4, 7-5 fourth-round win, in what was an error-strewn match for both players.
Konta stopped short of admitting it in her postmatch press conference, but her second-round health scare -- when she dramatically collapsed in the 80 percent humidity at Flushing Meadows -- may have caught up with her as she ran out of steam.
"I think it was just managing my energy levels today and managing just what I had left in the tank and really maximizing that," she said.
"I felt I did that, and unfortunately it wasn't enough to play the kind of tennis I wanted to play. I honestly did a good job in managing what I did have, and I really gave my best."
The 25-year-old, who made her breakthrough when she reached the same stage stage last year, had looked capable of going on a deep run here but had 34 unforced errors and won just 45 percent of her points on her first serve against?Sevastova.
It was a remarkable contrast to her third-round performance against Swiss prodigy Belinda Bencic, when she lost just one point on her first serve.
"I'm sure there is some remnants of it [her collapse], but it's not the reason I lost today," added Konta. "I think also what happened a few days ago, it's an accumulation of things. I have played a lot of tennis, and especially in this space of time."
All in all it was a disappointing display from Konta against a woman who retired from tennis in 2013 for nearly two years due to a series of injuries.
The shadow cast by the new roof on Ashe appeared to be playing havoc with both players, though, with 12 breaks of serve in the match overall.
The British No. 1 made a dreadful start with Sevastova, now the first Latvian woman to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since Larisa Savchenko in 1994, one point away from a 4-0 lead in the first set.
Konta fought back to level at 3-3 but trailed for the rest of the match and never seemed to get going. She managed to save two match points in the second set but Sevastova eventually took her third chance to.seal victory in one hour, 42 minutes.
"I felt I did the best I could today. My opponent played I think an overall more solid match than I did," added Konta. "I really am happy with how I was able to come back from that 3-0 down. I thought I did a good job getting myself back into the match. It wasn't easy.
"I didn't play the tennis level that I maybe would have liked to have played, but I competed the best I could. I left it all out there."
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