Tennis: Bristish No 1 Jo Konta collapse at the US Open, later beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2-5-7-6-2 (photos)

Jo Konta staged a recovery that was both miraculous and controversial from an on court collapse to survive into the third round of the US Open.


The British No 1, struggling for breath, fell into a sobbing heap on the baseline at the end of her match's second set, a victim of the acute humidity at Flushing Meadows.

But after two separate breaks she was able to continue, and ended up a 6-2 5-7 6-2 winner against unfortunate Tsvetana Pironkova, whose rhythm was disrupted by the 20-minute drama. The Bulgarian later made known her displeasure at the rules.

Urgent medical attention had been summoned as Konta, going a putrid red in the face, suffered breathing problems and physical distress as her second set reached its climax.

First the Norwegian umpire, Julie Minori Kjendlie, was left to tend to her and then the doctor and tour physio rushed out to be at her side, applying ice packs as she lay on the court, having first sunk down onto all fours.  

The referee's office gave the official cause of the timeout as 'dizziness'. This is a crucial distinction from cramping, for which treatment is not allowed, as opposed to a heat-related illness, for which a medical treatment is permitted.

There was no suggestion from Pironkova that Konta was faking – she most certainly was not – but she rightly questioned the additional break after the timeout.

The drama occurred between her first and second serves as Konta faced a third set point at 5-6 in the second, having convincingly taken the first set with a sparkling display of tennis. Pironkova could only stand around as Konta told the medics that 'my whole body feels in shock'.

After an initial break of around 12 minutes she completed a double fault and then took a 'toilet' break that lasted around another seven minutes.
                                      
 'What was frustrating for me was what happened after that, the toilet break,' she said. 'With that, I think the match was stopped for just too long. I had my momentum going, I was getting back in the match.

'Everything was by the rules, but today I am not very happy with these rules. I wish I could say all players use bathroom breaks accordingly, to go to the toilet. Obviously some players use them to refocus. I don't think they should be used that way.'

The problem seemed to be down to the 80 per cent humidity, because this was not the hottest day of the tournament in pure temperature terms, with the mercury showing in the mid to late twenties.

Source: dailymail