Johanna Konta beats doubles partner Yanina Wickmayer to progress into Nottingham Open quarter-finals

Konta beat the Belgian 6-4 6-1 in 75 minutes to book a spot in the last eight

Jonathan Veal
Nottingham
Thursday 15 June 2017 08:48 EDT
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Konta has reached the quarter-finals in her first grass-court tournament of the year
Konta has reached the quarter-finals in her first grass-court tournament of the year (Getty )

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Johanna Konta had no issue in Yanina Wickmayer going from friend to enemy after the British number one advanced to the Aegon Open quarter-final in Nottingham.

Konta beat the Belgian 6-4 6-1 in 75 minutes to book a spot in the last eight, but the win came less than 24 hours after the pair had played together - and won - in the doubles tournament.

The top seed was clinical in windy conditions, breaking her opponent five times while also showing no mercy in sending down plenty of winners.

Pleasantries will resume on Friday as they play the next round of the doubles as Konta says it is just part of the game.

“We are all adults, we must deal with that,” she said. “Players come across that situation on tour, it is nothing out of the ordinary, it happens quite often actually.

“Most importantly we look to leave the battle on court and we remain great friends off it and I am looking forward to playing doubles with her again tomorrow.

“We're both in the same situation, we have played each other in singles a number of times, I don't think playing with each other in the doubles added too much to either us to prepare for today.

“We have played each other enough times for us both to go into the match knowing roughly how we wanted to play.

“However it was very difficult conditions out there and both of us were just trying our best to survive out there in these conditions.” Konta has never got past the last eight in Nottingham, either in its current guise as a WTA event or as an ITF tournament.

Konta breezed through her match in Nottingham
Konta breezed through her match in Nottingham (Getty)

Seeded at number one, this surely represents her best chance of beating that record and also going on to lift a first WTA title on home soil.

Silverware is not entering her mind, though, as she aims to get as much time on court in the build up to Wimbledon as possible.

“I really enjoy coming back here, this is my sixth year,” she added. “I love coming back to this city.

“I love the centre court, it is really intimate and a good size of court so I am looking forward to staying here this week as long as I can.

“With every player it is about accumulating as much time on the surface as possible, it is quite a short season.

“Definitely leading into Wimbledon people are looking to play as much time on the grass as they can."

Konta has never got past the last eight in Nottingham
Konta has never got past the last eight in Nottingham (Getty)

Meanwhile, Heather Watson, a first-round loser in Nottingham, and Naomi Broady have been handed wildcards into next week's Aegon Classic in Birmingham.

The event at Edgbaston has had a host of high-profile withdrawals including Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska and Monica Puig.

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