British number one Johanna Konta got her Wimbledon campaign off to the perfect start with a straight sets win over Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 6-2 after one hour and four minutes.
The sixth seed wobbled early on but settled after the opening four games to win four more games in a row to establish a one set lead. The Brit rode the wave of momentum in the second set and claimed another five games in a row to take full control and booked her place in the second round with an ace on her third match point.
These two players met in round one at the French Open just over one month ago and it was Hsieh who caused a big upset coming back from a set down to defeat the world number seven 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. With that in mind there were a few pre-match concerns for Konta in preparation for a difficult match, not to mention assessing how her back was feeling after injuring her spine during her quarterfinal win over Angelique Kerber at Eastbourne last week.
The British number one looked to put those concerns to bed and sought to make a fast start, bringing up two break points in the opening game of the match following two double faults from her opponent. The sixth seed made two unforced errors off the backhand side to squander the opportunities as Hsieh advanced to hold.
After the Brit levelled with a hold to love Konta had no trouble overpowering her opponent early on in the rallies and attacked Hsieh’s relatively slow second serves. With two more chances to break she continued to be aggressive and narrowly missed two backhand returns of serve beyond the baseline as more chances slipped by. Third time proved to be the charm in this particular game as the home favourite forced her opponent to go wide with the backhand to secure the first break of serve in the match.
Konta established a 40-0 lead on serve once again in the fourth game, but a couple of wild forehand errors resulted in the Brit losing five points in a row to drop serve. Clearly suffering from early nerves, the British number one regrouped and quickly re-established the break of serve and swiftly took full control of the opening set after a netted backhand from her opponent from Chinese Taipei sealed a double break.
Under some slight pressure at 30-30, the Brit held her nerve and finished with a volley winner on the stretch to secure the first set 6-2 after 32 minutes of play out on Court One.
Konta maintained her dominance in the second set and continued to punish and bully Hsieh on the court. The Brit had too much power and despite holding serve in the opening game the sixth seed broke her serve twice and held to love to take a 5-1 lead.
The British number one had two match points in the seventh game, but two errors let the opportunity slip away as Hsieh stopped the run of games against her with a backhand cross court winner. Konta made sure she got it done in the next game as she brought three more match points and sealed victory with an ace down the tee to win a match at Wimbledon for just the second time in her career.
