Johanna Konta has made a winning start to the New Year as she secured a 4-6 6-4 6-3 triumph over Madison Keys in the first round of the Brisbane International on Monday.
The British number one is the fifth seed for the tournament in Brisbane, but she could not have been handed a tougher first-round draw against US Open finalist Keys.
The writing looked like it could be on the wall for Konta when she lost the first set, but she showed great resilience to battle back and secure her place in round two, and she is now looking forward to enjoying an extended run in the competition.
She said: “It was my first match in quite a while and it was a tough first round, Madison is a great player. She has a big game so when my chances came I had to take them.”
Konta’s reward for reaching round two is a clash with Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday, after the Croatian eased past Destanee Aiava in her first-round match.
The Briton is priced at 1.40 to secure her place in round three, while Tomljanovic, who has yet to win a title on the WTA Tour, is available at 2.70.
Other notable first-round winners in Brisbane were third seed Elina Svitolina, who saw off Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets, and qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who pulled off a surprise by knocking out sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic.
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