By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, January 17, 2019
Garbiñe Muguruza edged former No. 4 Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5, in a pulsating two hour, 42 slugfest that ended at 3:13 a.m. Melbourne time.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
A long night's journey into day churned deep into the final set when Garbiñe Muguruza saw the light.
Boldly slashing successive backhands, Muguruza edged former world No. 4 Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5, in a pulsating two hour, 42 slugfest that concluded at 3:13 a.m. Melbourne time.
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The 12:30 a.m. start time was the latest match start in Melbourne.
The few hearty fans who stayed around for the stirring climax were rewarded with a tremendously high-quality clash—and by Muguruza who celebrated tossing every towel she had to fans.
Two aggressive baseliners straddled the line and traded fire nearly non-stop with both women playing big and bold combinations throughout and neither shirking from the pressure.
Massive weapons produced major fireworks.
A defiant Muguruza did not drop serve during a brilliant two hour, 42-minute battle that saw heavy hitters combine for 87 winners.
The 18th-seeded Spaniard struck with clean conviction: Muguruza served 72 percent, won 10 of 12 net points and hit twice as many winners (41) as unforced errors (19).
Morning glory sent a smiling Muguruza into the Australian Open third round for the fifth time in the last six years.
And left the 2017 quarterfinalist in a state of down under wonder—not over winning an emotional thriller, but over the fact fans stuck around to see it through to the end.
"I mean I can't believe, I seriously can't believe there is people watching us at 3:15, like who cares?" a smiling Muguruza joked afterward. "Of course, (it was) very tough. I think Johanna was playing also very good, serving incredible, hitting big shots. I just tried to fight and hang in there.
"I feel like there's people watching and I'm motivated. We play for your guys otherwise why would we be here? For what?"
So what do you do to come down from the adrenaline rush of winning an epic major match at 3 a.m.?
"Breakfast," Muguruza joked. "No, I will recover as much as I can. Tomorrow is a day off, but I have to be concentrated. The tournament is not over."
The gritty Konta was tie break tough again.
In her opener, Konta edged Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (10-7).
Straddling the baseline, Konta did not back down tonight either.
Shortly after 2 a.m. a brief shower forced a rain delay with the tiebreak deadlocked, 1-all, while ball kids wiped the court clean with towels.
Konta cranked a crosscourt forehand for 5-3 then slid an ace down the middle for three set points.
The Briton's return was incorrectly ruled out, Konta challenged and replay showed the ball caught the back edge of the baseline ending the second set with a bang.
The 25-year-old Muguruza showed no signs of clocking out of this battle blasting an ace to hold for 5-4 in the final set.
Serving at 5-6, Konta carved out a short forehand down the line to level, 30-all.
Anticipating the serve direction, Muguruza stepped in and slashed a diagonal backhand for match point.
The two-hander was the key stroke as Muguruza blasted another backhand into the corner concluding a gripping battle.
Next up for Muguruza: Sleep.
Then, the 2017 Wimbledon winner takes on tricky Timea Bacsinszky for a spot in the fourth round and a shot at either seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova or 27th-seeded Camila Giorgi.
ATP Player Council president and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was asked about the after midnight start for Muguruza vs. Konta and said it's part of the challenge Grand Slams present.
"I don't know Konta and Muguruza, the process of the decision making," Djokovic said."I would assume if the rules are the same, both for men's and women's tennis, that they could have said if it's post midnight they could have postponed it for tomorrow. By assume that's the case. I guess they both wanted to play after waiting for a long time.
"It is what it is. It happened many times in the men's part, women's as well, that you go after midnight. You get to this kind of particular situation where you wait for hours and hours and hours, then you are about to make the decision whether you want to go out on the court or not."
The waiting game can be tiring, but ultimately players want to play.
"Of course, you're tired, waiting for the entire day," Djokovic said. "At the same time you just want to get it over with, just play the match. So I understand why they probably decided to go out and play."