- British No 1 faces American prodigy; Murray meets old rival
- Konta fears coronavirus will haunt tennis for ‘a long time’
Johanna Konta will again lead Britain’s charge at a grand slam title next week when she opens her Roland Garros campaign against the American prodigy Coco Gauff, the sort of match to raise heartbeats and trepidation in equal measure. However the 29-year-old British No1, ranked 13 by the WTA, has wider concerns.
She fears the coronavirus pandemic that has pitched the 2020 French Open from mid-summer into this dank autumn slot will haunt tennis for “a long time”. Konta, who fell one win short of reaching the final here last year – adding that semi-final high-point to those she previously reached at Wimbledon and Melbourne – delivered her gloomy forecast before Thursday’s draw for the last slam of a season that was suspended for six months to guard against the spread of Covid-19.
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