Johanna Konta, the number seven seed, and reigning Miami Open champion was knocked out of the US Open in the first round 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Aleksandra Krunic, the twenty-four-year-old Serbian, currently ranked seventy-eight in the world.

While many picked Konta to be playing deep into the second week, she was all too aware of Krunic’s abilities given her success on these hard courts three years ago.

In the fourth round at the 2014 US Open, Krunic, just 21 years of age, defeated Petra Kvitiova, the two-time Wimbledon champion.

On the grandstand court in relatively mild conditions, the two traded blistering groundstrokes and multiple breaks of serve. Initially, it had appeared that the twenty-six year old Brit would easily win the first set having gone up a double break but Krunic broke back for 2-4 and then held for 3-4.

Konta faced double break point serving 4-3 and though she saved one with a brilliant backhand down the line, she succumbed on the second and found herself tied at four games apiece. Krunic served to go up for the first time in the set but found herself on the receiving end of a barrage of unreturnable groundstrokes and with a double fault, was broken at love.

Konta kept her composure and continued to strike the ball from the baseline with authority and converted her first set point to take it 6-4.

Konta, once again, found herself in trouble serving at 2-3 in the second facing 4 break points in one of the longest games of the match. Sensing the urgency of the moment in this potentially pivotal game, Konta steadied the ship and held for 3-3.

Krunic was most impressive on serve holding twice at love to clinch the second set 6-3. Her variety of shot and movement were exemplary as were her forays to the net where she won 15 of 22 points.

The third set produced more of the same; Krunic was relentless from the baseline hitting countless cross-court winners off the forehand and utilizing the slice and topspin two-handed backhand to repeatedly draw errors from Konta.

Konta serving at 3-3 in the third found it increasingly arduous to win points and was broken for 3-4. Krunic, once again, would hold easily while Konta struggled. Krunic would serve for the match and second round leading 5-4.

The Serb quickly went up 40-0 and triple match point but Konta managed to save one before missing long on the next point.

The match at times seemed incredibly one sided but the stats tell a rather different story; both had similar numbers on most metrics.

They served a comparable number of aces and double faults, produced more errors than winners but without question, the decisive stat was break point opportunities/conversion. Krunic was 5/13 while Konta was 4/10. Krunic never took her foot off the gas while Konta misfired one time too many.

While many in the crowd seemed surprised and shocked by the outcome, I was not; I expected a compelling and challenging match and I was not disappointed.