French Open: Konta crashes out

British hope suffers shock defeat

French Open betting was blown apart with the shock defeat of British number one Johanna Konta on Tuesday. 26-year-old Konta was dumped out of the running for the Roland Garros prize by Hsiehm Su-wei.

The underdog, ranked way down at 109 in the pecking order, sealed a surprise first round win courtesy of a dramatic 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 score. The UK’s major hope in the woman’s game, based in Eastbourne, looked on track for a convincing win, having dominated the first set, but it all fell apart, and fast.

The beaten player will have one eye on the upcoming grass court season, hoping to enjoy more luck in the run-up to this year’s Wimbledon. Victor Su-wei doesn’t appear to have won too many friends on the trading floor, despite that winning effort, going back into the betting at a mammoth 250/1. She’ll need a few more results like that before anyone takes the 31-year-old from Taiwan seriously.

Kvitova an inspiration

Elsewhere, and story of the tournament so far concerns the bravery of Petra Kvitova, who battled back from a knife attack – stabbed during a burglary at her home – to win her first match, beating American Julia Boserup 6-3, 6-2, and all in impressive fashion.

The 27-year-old Czech inspiration wasn’t expected to make it to Paris, having suffered damage to her left hand during the horror ordeal, but defied medical advice to make a quicker than expected recovery, and a stunning return to winning ways. Kvitova, a two-time winner at Wimbledon, told fans at the conclusion of her match on Sunday that it was a pleasure to be there.