Johanna Konta and Wozniacki end Halep’s and Kerber’s Race to No. 1

While Halep and Kerber were probably focusing on their race against each other for the world number one ranking, Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki swooped in and gave them something else to worry about.

Johanna Konta would beat Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinal to reach the semis. Before Kerber, Konta defeated Jelena Ostapenko, this year’s French Open champions in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Because of the incessant rain at Eastbourne, most players had to play two matches in a day, and that is exactly what Konta had to do. After defeating Ostapenko, Konta would go on to play Angelique Kerber.

The match would turn out to be surprisingly dramatic, when with two set points in her hand, Konta would slip and fall dangerously on her back. In fact, the young player shed tears while she lay on the floor in pain and shock. Kerber would come around to the net to check on the fallen player, and Konta would go on to take a ten minute medical time out. All the while everyone questioned whether Konta would be able to return to the court and complete the match.

However, Konta would rise from her seat and return to the court, and although she did not seem much better, she manged to pull out the next two points, earning her a spot in the semifinals and a match against Karolina Pliskova, who just beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, in a tough three setter.

“I slipped and hit my head and it’s a bit sore,” said Konta. “It’s been a busy afternoon, we’ve played a lot of tennis and I’m looking forward to recovering the best I can.”

Wozniacki would end Halep’s chances of becoming world number one. After being a set down, Wozniacki would go on to win the next two sets, winning the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, in an hour and 50 minutes. It took Halep some time to find her game in the first set, going down 5-2 in the first set, but Wozniacki would take her foot off the accelerator, and Halep would take advantage of this opportunity and dominate until she won the first set 7-5. This would continue into the second set, where Halep would go up 3-0.

Wozniacki would end up coming back in the second, fending off four break points, winning 6 out of 7 games to win the second set. From there on Wozniacki would break Halep three more times, winning the third set 6-1, carrying on the momentum that she generated in the second set.

“It was tough because I was ahead in the first set, kind of had her in the defense and running then all of a sudden every time I put her in a corner she managed to find a way out of it,” reflected Wozniacki in her post match interview.

“She came out with some amazing shots and I lost the first set, and she had the momentum in the second. But I kept grinding and kept digging in there and somehow managed to turn it around.”

This will be Wozniacki’s first semifinal of the grass court season, and we can be sure to watch out for Konta at Wimbledon.

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