Round One Agony for the Brits

Round one of the Australian Open has not been particularly kind to the Brits. Hopes were high, with pre-tournament form looking good, but with very few left, the hopes of a successful Open look slim.

Dan Evans, Johanna Konta, Katie Boulter and Fran Jones were all knocked out in Round One, leaving Heather Watson and Cameron Norrie as the only surviving Brits left in the 2021 Australian Open.

Battle of the Brits

With only two British men in the singles draw, only one would progress as Dan Evans faced Cameron Norrie. The game was a good battle, between two players who know each other well. Norrie won the tie in four sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Evans seemed primed to have a good run at this year’s AO, after winning his first ATP title a week before. The Murray River Open, in Melbourne, provided Evans with the perfect warm-up, however it seemed to have the opposite effect. As the game against Norrie went on, Evans seemed to tire, with Norrie taking control, and rising to the occasion.

Norrie has not progressed beyond the 2nd round in a Grand Slam. He will face Russian, Roman Safiullin. Safiullin is ranked 183rd, over 100 places lower than Norrie. He won his first round match is straight sets, and won the youth Australian Open in 2015, so Norrie will know that it is not an easy game.

Injury Hampers Konta

British Women’s Number One, Johanna Konta, was forced to retire during the 2nd set, due to an abdominal injury. She received treatment towards the end of the first set, which she managed to win, and then again in between the first and second sets. She ended up unable to carry on, and retired from the game, with the score 6-4, 0-2.

Konta was emotional as she left the court, he head in her towel, and the crowd applauding her. In her post-match interview with BBC Sport, she revealed that this injury had occurred earlier on in the first set:

“I felt the ab injury in my second service game of the first set and I was conscious of trying to adapt and using my legs more on my serve.”

It is a big blow for Konta, who had been struggling to get back to her best Grand Slam form in 2020.

Boulter back to fitness, but too error-prone

Katie Boulter has had a stuttering couple of years. She missed a lot of the 2019 tour, with injury, and then 2020 was very disrupted for all due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and effect on tennis. She admitted on BBC Sport:

“I’ve worked so hard on my body, so firstly I really hope I’m going to stay fit.”

“That’s my number one goal for this year as it is any year.”

“As I feel I showed last week, unfortunately not this week,the game is there to beat some of these top players and I feel like I have to maintain it longer.”

“The more positive weeks I get, the more I feel like I’ll get towards my goal.”

A string of unforced errors saw her lose the first set 6-1. The second set looked to be following the first, as she trailed 5-2. A fight back, did seem to be on the cards, as she saved four match points, and got the score to 5-4. However, it proved too much to overturn the score, as she lost the second set 6-4.

Boulter will feel that being able to play more regularly will see her back to her best, and that avoiding injuries, will also be a big part to how her 2021 tour goes.

Jones starts slowly

Francesca Jones made the tournament via the qualifiers, and was handed a tough tie against American, Shelby Rogers. She lost in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, however in both sets, she handed Rogers a 3-0 lead.

Rogers has been in fine form after the restart in 2020, and will be looking to continue that, after overcoming a Jones, who was high on confidence in her Grand Slam debut.

Jones, 20, will have learnt many lessons on her debut, and now has the bar set, for her to aim towards. More can be read on her match against Rogers here.

Heather Holds the Women’s Hopes

Heather Watson is the last remaining Brit in the Women’s draw. She beat Kristyna Pliskova in straight sets, with both going to a tie-break. She won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3). It is a repeat of Watson’s first round tie from last years Open, where she beat Pliskova.

Watson was one of the players who had to endure a 14-day quarantine, meaning she missed out on the usual practice and build-up to the Open. Post-match, she said:

“I didn’t feel as fit as usual, which is no surprise.”

“I’m taking care of my body carefully because four days ago my left leg went into spasm and I couldn’t finish practising.”

“I was really worried about if I was going to be able to play my first round.”

Although hopes of Watson winning the tournament were slim, she now has the nation backing her to progress to the 3rd Round, and keep the flag flying at the Open.

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