- Bernarda Pera beat Jo Konta 6-4, 7-5 in the second round of the Australian Open
- American Pera claimed the opening set 6-4 in Thursday’s second-round match
- Konta was caught cold by some impressive returns from the world No 123 Pera
- The British No 1 had made the semi-finals of the Australian Open back in 2016
Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber have emerged from the chaos of the Australian Open women’s draw as two of the favourites after Britain’s No 1 Jo Konta joined a host of fallen seeds on Thursday.
Because of Sharapova’s depressed ranking, the pair will now meet in the third round in a match that — in the absence of Serena Williams — feels more like a semi-final or final.
But there will be no Konta, who lost 6-4, 7-5 to world No 123 Croatian-American Bernarda Pera. She was only one of 10 of the top 16 seeds who had tumbled out by late afternoon on the fourth day. Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza was another.
Jo Konta was dumped out of the Australian Open in the second round by Bernarda Pera
Pera holds her hands to her face in disbelief at the end of the match after No 10-ranked Konta
One crumb of comfort for Konta was that Pera was a far tougher opponent than her ranking suggested. Yet it is a fact that the last time Konta had any momentum was back at Wimbledon last summer.
‘I don’t feel it’s a catastrophe, she said, ‘but I don’t want to be going home this early.’
Ninth seed Konta had reached the quarter-final and semi-final on her past two visits to Melbourne Park.
Konta struggled to deal with the world No 123 as she dropped the match’s opening set 6-4
Konta shouted out as she went to ground in the first set but didn’t require a medical timeout
Pera played brilliantly as she claimed the biggest scalp of her career by defeating Konta
Konta walks off the court after her shock exit in the second round of the Australian Open