Konta in Shock After Abdominal Injury Forced Her to Retire

Konta in Shock After Abdominal Injury Forced Her to Retire

*Nadal, Medvedev, Tsitsipas into second round

British number one Johanna Konta said yesterday that she was in “shock” after an abdominal injury forced her to retire from her Australian Open first-round match.

The 13th seed had won the first set 6-4 and left the court for treatment before falling 2-0 behind in the second and conceding to Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan.

“I pulled my ab and that made it difficult for me to serve,” Konta said.

Meanwhile, men’s World number two, Rafael Nadal, began his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title with a straight-set victory over Laslo Djere at the Australian Open.

The Spaniard did not play in the ATP Cup last week after struggling with a back injury, but he moved well in a 6-3 6-4 6-1 victory over the Serb.

He will play American world number 177 Michael Mmoh in the second round.

Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and compatriot Andrey Rublev also advanced on the second day at Melbourne Park.

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised through against Gilles Simon, seeing off the 36-year-old Frenchman 6-1 6-2 6-1 in one hour 32 minutes.

However, 13th seed David Goffin squandered four match points as he was stunned in five sets by Australian wildcard Alexei Popyrin.

Popyrin, who was one of the 72 players to undergo ‘hard’ quarantine before the Grand Slam began, fought back to beat the Belgian 3-6 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.

Spanish 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut also suffered a surprise defeat, losing 6-7 (1-7) 6-0 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to Moldovan world number 85 Radu Albot.

Cameron Norrie produced an impressive performance to win an all-British encounter against Dan Evans.

Evans, the 30th seed, struggled physically in a 6-4 4-6 6-4 7-5 defeat as Norrie reached the second round at Melbourne Park for the first time.

Only Heather Watson is left in the women’s singles after 20-year-old Francesca Jones lost on her Grand Slam main-draw debut.

After making a promising start against American opponent Shelby Rogers, Jones lost 6-4 6-1 to a player ranked almost 200 places higher.

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