‘Out of body’ experience for Johanna Konta as British No 1 leads GB to Fed Cup success

Eastbourne’s Johanna Konta led Great Britain to Fed Cup success after she recovered from collapsing midway through her decisive match with Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic.
Johanna KontaJohanna Konta
Johanna Konta

With a place in the World Group II play-off on the line, Konta looked to be down and out after losing the second set, having spent almost 10 hours on court over the last four days, and a deciding rubber seemed certain. She needed to steady herself on her chair before falling to her hands and knees on her way off court, where she was helped by volunteers and paramedics.

But the British No 1 returned to court seven minutes later after a medical assessment and produced a spirited comeback to earn a 7-6 (1) 3-6 6-2 win, which sealed a 2-0 success in the best-of-three tie. “I started progressively feeling more and more unwell,” Konta said. “Light-headed, feeling shaky, feeling a little bit out of body.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It got the better of me at the end of the second set. I tried not to panic and tried again to assess what I could and do the best I could.

“I was going to go as far as I could.”

Katie Boulter had earlier put Britain in the lead with her fourth win from four this week, beating Ivana Torovic 6-4 6-4, and Konta eventually completed the job in the Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 play-off.

The fact the former Wimbledon semi-finalist was able to finish the match, let alone win it, says a lot about her spirit and fitness as her time on court totalled nine hours and 54 minutes.

The draw for April’s tie will be on Tuesday, where GB are again hoping for a home tie.