Aegon Classic Birmingham, Great Britain

[7] Johanna Konta (GBR) vs.  [30] Coco Vandeweghe (USA)

Vandeweghe remains an enigma, like so many players with talent; she often does not perform at her potential.  When you see her playing at her best, like she did at this year’s Australian Open, you are often baffled by the many times that she underperforms.    She loves playing on grass as evidenced by the fact that her only two singles titles were won on grass in the Netherlands (‘s-Hertogenbosch).  She was the defending champion in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, but crashed out in the first round; thus, coming into this tournament, there were questions about the state of her game.

Vandeweghe had never won a match against Konta; however, this would be their first meeting on grass.   Konta came in a little battered after her recent loss in the final as the number one seed.  Some players thrive under the pressure of being the home crowd favorite and some players struggle to find their game.  Recent evidence indicates that Konta may not handle the pressure as well as she would like. Although Konta won her first round match in straight sets, she was pushed hard in the second set.   Today she was not prepared for the aggressive attack of Vandeweghe from the start and the first set was over before she could get her bearings.

She is a top ten champion and more is expected from her.  Would she shake off the sluggish start and regain her composure in the second set?  Konta led 2:0; however, that head-to-head statistic is a bit misleading because she has not played Vandeweghe since 2012 and today’s Vandeweghe is a much improved opponent.  Simply put, Konta was overpowered by the American.  Vandeweghe won 6-1, 6-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals to play Garbine Muguruza.

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