Johanna Konta said she was happy to be “ getting back to normality” on Wednesday after recording an opening-round win over Naomi Osaka in Stuttgart.
J ohanna Konta said she was happy to be “getting back to normality” on Wednesday after recording an opening-round win over Naomi Osaka in Stuttgart. Discounting second-tier tournaments such as Challengers or Futures, this was only the third clay-court victory of Konta’s career.
She was referring to her switch from the wild frontier that was Constanta for the Fed Cup tie against Romania to the much more respectful environment of Stuttgart’s Porsche-Arena. Nevertheless, this was hardly a normal day, earmarked as it had been since the autumn as the date of Maria Sharapova’s return.
Despite being cast as the warm-up act in the great Sharapova circus, Konta managed to keep her mind on the court. That is one quality that she shares with the Russian: the ability to focus.
