Press Release
For immediate release
Wednesday June 10th 2015
BRITISH NO. 2 KONTA DELAYED ON MARATHON DAY AT AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM
In a day of marathon contests at the Aegon Open Nottingham, Lauren Davis and Monica Niculescu each won three-hour epics on Centre Court to move into the quarter-finals, while British hopes of victory hang in the balance as the match between British No. 2 Johanna Konta and Monica Puig was suspended.
With fading light, Konta battled from a set down to level the second round meeting 4-6 6-4 on Wednesday.
However, there was late local joy in the ladies’ doubles as Nottingham’s Jocelyn Rae and her partner Anna Smith overcame 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and 2012 Olympic doubles silver medalist Lucie Hradecka 6-4 7-5.
In the first of two astonishing comebacks at the Nottingham Tennis Centre, rising America star Davis saved eight match points in a grueling second-set tiebreak before beating Poland’s Magda Linette 5-7 7-6(13) 6-2.
After her 2 hour 40 minute win over eighth seed Ajla Tomljanovic on Monday, the diminutive World No. 63 spent another 2 hours 50 minutes on Centre Court.
Davis will face either compatriot Christina McHale or top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the next round on Friday.
“It’s really insane. I never stopped believing and I tried to stay in the moment,” she said about her comeback.
“I believed in myself, I believed I could win.”
Meanwhile, World No. 61 Niculescu also clawed back from a set down to win 2-6 7-5 7-5 against Belarusian qualifier Olga Govortsova, who battled a thigh injury from the end of the second set.
It took Niculescu exactly three hours to complete her turnaround and set up a potential meeting with Konta or Puerto Rican Puig.
Elsewhere, first to book her place in Friday’s quarter-finals was fifth seed American Alison Riske, who overcame 33-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in a 6-3 6-4 win.
Going into the match, Riske, 24, had a 3-0 record against the Croat since last year’s French Open.
But she insists that her experience against the hard hitting of Lucic-Baroni made it easier to figure out.
“It makes it all the better because you know what to expect when you know how they play,” she said. “It can only help.
“Mirjana’s a great player and I know that any time I come across her it’s going to be a battle, especially on grass. The way she hits the ball is something else.”
Riske is the latest player to sing the praises about the extended grass court season and the state of the surfaces at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
“Whoever made the decision, I will go and personally hug and thank. Hopefully they can add another one in the coming years.
“Every year that I’ve come here the courts have been fantastic, it plays very well. It’s as good a grass court as I’ve ever played on.”
Images for editorial use available her http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/ltapubuser?nav=pr283645562
AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM - NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
$ 250,000.00
8-14 JUNE, 2015
ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015
CENTRE COURT start 12:00noon
B. Jovanovski (SRB) vs Y. Wickmayer (BEL)
M. Puig (PUR) vs [WC] J. Konta (GBR) 64 46 00
[1] [WC] A. Radwanska (POL) vs C. Mchale (USA)
[6] C. Dellacqua (AUS) vs A. Konjuh (CRO)
[Q] S. Vickery (USA) vs [2] Z. Diyas (KAZ)
[1] R. Kops-Jones (USA) / A. Spears (USA) vs S. Aoyama (JPN) / R. Voracova (CZE)
COURT 4 start 12:00noon
[4] C. Black (ZIM) / L. Raymond (USA) vs C. Chan (TPE) / Y. Xu (CHN)
AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM - NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
$ 250,000.00
8-14 JUNE, 2015
RESULTS - JUNE 10, 2015
Women's
Singles - Second Round
[5] A. Riske (USA) d M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 63 64
L. Davis (USA) d M. Linette (POL) 57 76(13) 62
M. Niculescu (ROU) d [Q] O. Govortsova (BLR) 26 75 75
Women's
Doubles - First Round
[2] Y. Chan (TPE) / J. Zheng (CHN) d C. Dellacqua (AUS) / D. Jurak (CRO) 64 64
J. Rae (GBR) / A. Smith (GBR) d [WC] L. Hradecka (CZE) / F. Schiavone (ITA) 64 75
The Aegon Open Nottingham will see two tournaments take place in June, the women’s WTA event taking place from 6-14 June 2015, and the men’s ATP event being staged from 20-27 June 2015. Both tournaments will be an integral part of the new British grass court season, which in 2015 will see a three week window between Roland Garros and Wimbledon for the first time. The extended grass court season will enable some of the world’s elite players extra time to find their feet on grass and make the most of the best grass-courts in the country.
Tickets to the Aegon Open Nottingham are on sale now. Tickets start from just £15 for an adult and £5 for a child.
For more information and to purchase tickets please visit http://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham
For information on the hospitality packages on offer at The Aegon Open Nottingham head to http://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham/nottingham-hospitality/ or contact Elliot Sheasby on aegonopen@lta.org.uk
- ENDS -
For media enquiries please contact:
Charlie Bosomworth; LTA Communications Officer
charlie.bosomworth@lta.org.uk
0208 487 7021 or 07932 276 053
Andrew Aloia; Aegon Open Nottingham, Press Officer
Andrew.aloia@gmail.com
07845 586290
Notes to Editors:
• The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.
• Aegon is Lead Partner of British Tennis and is helping to transform the sport in this country. They’re supporting young talent through the Aegon FutureStars programme, as well as sponsoring the junior and senior GB Davis and Fed Cup teams and amateur and professional events. Aegon sponsor three world-class grass court tournaments; the Aegon Classic, Aegon International and Aegon Championships and will also sponsor the new WTA and ATP events in Nottingham from 2015. For further information visit www.aegontennis.co.uk
• For more information on tennis in Britain visit: www.lta.org.uk