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Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach the fourth round of the French Open for 36 years by breezing past Viktoria Kuzmova on Court Simonne Mathieu.
Not since Jo Durie in 1992 had any British woman made round three, and Konta’s 6-2 6-1 victory saw her emulate Durie and Anne Hobbs, who both made the last 16 in 1983, with the former going all the way to the semi-finals.
Konta is still some way from matching that, with a clash against Croatia’s Donna Vekic to come first on Sunday, but she was undoubtedly impressive against Kuzmova, wrapping up victory in just 54 minutes.
It was the sixth time Konta has reached the third round of a grand slam, and the sixth time she has won, highlighting that she is an extremely dangerous player when full of confidence.
Konta has broken a succession of Durie’s records over the last three years. This was one Durie, who is working here for Eurosport, was happy to see go, saying: “Of course I like holding onto records, but I also like them being broken, this one in particular since it’s been 27 years – it’s long enough.”
Konta’s run certainly highlighted the extreme paucity of success for British women on the clay in recent years, which had included four first-round defeats for herself.
She would have expected to face fourth seed Kiki Bertens, one of the favourites for the title, but the Dutchwoman was forced out by a stomach bug, meaning it was 21-year-old Kuzmova who stood across the net on Roland Garros’ new garden court.
It was after 7.30pm when the clash began, presenting the threat of the match not being finished on Friday.
Konta, who has been battling a heavy cold, seemed in no mood to come back on Saturday, winning the first three games of the opening set and then the last three after Kuzmova had briefly threatened to get herself into the match.
The Slovakian is a big hitter who has claimed some notable wins this season to climb to 47 in the rankings but Konta was able to exploit her limitations in movement.
The British player had seen her previous opponent, Lauren Davis, respond well after going a set down but this time there was no let-up from Konta and Kuzmova was simply unable to respond.
