British number one Johanna Konta came from a set down against Kiki Bertens to reach the final of the Italian Open, BBC informs. Konta - who will be seeded at the French Open later this month - beat Dutch sixth seed Bertens 5-7 7-5 6-2 in two hours 49 minutes in Rome. The 28-year-old will play Karolina Pliskova or Maria Sakkari in her first WTA Premier clay final on Sunday.
Konta is the first British woman to reach the Italian Open final since Virginia Wade in 1971. Victory over world number four Bertens marked her first over a top-five opponent since defeating Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2017. Both players lost serve twice in the first set before Bertens was able to take the early advantage, breaking world number 42 Konta at set point.
The first two games of the second set went against serve but Konta was able to capitalise on a break at 5-5 to level the match. Konta dominated the deciding set, breaking Bertens' serve twice, though she needed four match points to seal the win, having made three unforced errors at 40-0 in the final game.
