US Open: Johanna Konta well beaten by sixth seed Caroline Garcia in first round

In her five Grand Slams since she reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last summer the Briton has won only two matches and gone out in the first round three times

Johanna Konta’s Grand Slam season came to a predictable finish here on Tuesday as the British No 1 fell at the first hurdle of the US Open. France’s Caroline Garcia won 6-2, 6-2 in just 75 minutes as Konta’s lengthening run of disappointments at the highest level showed little sign of ending.

In her five Grand Slam tournaments since she reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last summer the 27-year-old Briton has won only two matches and gone out in the first round on three occasions. In the wake of that Wimbledon Konta rose to No 4 in the world rankings, but little has gone right for her since. She is now down to No 46 in the world order and in danger of dropping out of the top 50.

One of the most significant consequences of Konta’s slide down the rankings is not being seeded in most tournaments. This was the first Grand Slam event where she had not been seeded since the 2016 Australian Open. As a result she had the misfortune to be drawn against one of the game’s most improved players over the last year.

Garcia, the world No 6, had long been hailed as a player of great promise – Andy Murray famously singled her out as a future world No 1 when she was just 17 – and has made major strides in the last 12 months. Tournament victories at the end of last year in Beijing and Wuhan saw the 24-year-old Frenchwoman qualify for the year-ending WTA Finals for the first time – at Konta’s expense.

The match here was played on Grandstand, which is the third of the main show courts at Flushing Meadows. However, the arena was sparsely populated. In the intense heat and humidity on another stifling day in the Big Apple it was clearly almost as difficult to watch as it was to play.

Garcia and Konta met twice last year, winning once each. Both matches went to three sets and both were tight contests. Garcia was made to work for her win this time, but in the end enjoyed a comfortable margin of victory.

Johanna Konta lost in straight sets to Caroline Garcia (Getty Images)

The Frenchwoman has one of the best serves in the women’s game and Konta did not force a single break point. Garcia, in contrast, made regular inroads into Konta’s service games. Striking the ball with impressive power, she hit 21 winners to the Briton’s 13.

Konta was broken as early as the third game of the first set, hitting a forehand wide on Garcia’s second break point. At 2-5 Konta went 0-40 down on her serve, saved two set points but made a forehand error on the third under pressure from Garcia’s stinging return.

Garcia again drew first blood in the second set, breaking in the fourth game. At 2-5 Konta saved a first match point with a service winner but on the second she hit a forehand beyond the baseline.

“I served very well today,” Garcia said afterwards. “I was able to read her serve a bit better than usual, but there were a lot of tough games.”