Britain’s Johanna Konta captured her first WTA title in style on Sunday, beating former world number one Venus Williams 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at the WTA hardcourt tournament in Stanford, California. Konta, ranked 18th in the world and seeded third, appeared on her way to an emphatic victory in her first career final after racing to a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve in the second set.
But Williams, seeking her 50th career title, won six of the next seven games to knot the match at a set apiece. The 25-year-old Konta, who fired 12 aces to three from Williams, didn’t let the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s resurgence rattle her.
“Quite honestly you’d expect nothing less of a champion that she is,” Konta said. “That’s what great champions do. They raise their level. They definitely don’t give away a match.”
“It was quite an incredibly humbling experience,” added Konta, the first Briton to win the tournament since Sue Barker in 1977. “It’s a great validation of the hard work you do put in, and it’s a great motivator on the things you want to keep getting better at, the length you want to go to become that much more better at your discipline.”
Konta had launched her career-best season with a win over Williams in the first round of the Australian Open, where she went on to reach the semi-finals. Britain’s top player has since gone from strength to strength, making the second week of both Indian Wells and Miami, and reaching the semi-finals at Eastbourne. “It’s daily work,” Konta said of her rise. “It’s daily desire to keep getting better.”

Djokovic happy to be back on hard courts
World number one Novak Djokovic is looking forward to playing on his favoured hardcourt surface at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, but the Serb urged caution as he returns to action for the first time since his shock Wimbledon exit.
The 29-year-old, who was aiming to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four grand slams in a year, suffered a third-round loss to American Sam Querrey at Wimbledon. However, Djokovic, who has won three of the five Masters tournaments this season, is keeping his expectations in check for the Rogers Cup, which he has won three times.
“I don’t expect anything. I just try to get myself ready for performing as best as I can,” Djokovic told the ATP website (www.atpworldtour.com). “I had a bit more time because of the early loss at Wimbledon to spend some quality time with family, regroup a little bit and start training on hard court, which I enjoy the most. So I look forward to it. I have a wonderful history in the Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal. That’s what goes through my mind right now. Just enjoy, play well, play singles and doubles and get as many hours in as possible.”