JOHANNA Konta edged a marathon three-set battle with Donna Vekic to reach the third round for the first time at Wimbledon.
Konta saved two break points at the end of a nail-biting final set that lasted an hour and 19 minutes, and the British No 1 emerged a 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 10-8 victor.
Vekic was in tears as she embraced her opponent at the net on Centre Court while Konta goes through to face Greece’s Maria Sakkari for a place in the last 16.
Konta told the BBC: “It hasn’t quite sunk in. It’s just a nice feeling not to keep going out there. We were out there a long time and both of us battled incredibly hard. Whoever was going to draw the short straw was going to be hurting. I feel very fortunate to come through that.”
After Heather Watson’s earlier win over Anastasija Sevastova, Konta’s victory also means Britain have two women into the third round of the singles here for the first time since 1986 when Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs made it through.
Konta had lost another tight three-setter to Vekic in the final in Nottingham last month. That was only Vekic’s second victory against a top-10 opponent.
Both players had to contend with temperatures in the high 20s, not to mention an invasion of flying insects, with Vekic, who had boyfriend Stan Wawrinka watching in the crowd, forced to apply repellent spray in the thrilling final set.
Both players left the court and when Konta finally re-emerged she had a bag of ice in her hand.
There was no glimpse of a break in the opening 10 matches of the set before Vekic pushed Konta close a few times but the Brit stood strong. Konta then threatened briefly on a few occasions, earning her first break point at 9-8. Vekic saved it with an ace but a cross-court forehand gave Konta another, which she converted.
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