Australian Open 2018: Johanna Konta avoids first-round hiccup to sail past Madison Brengle in just 66 minutes

Johanna Konta had lost to unheralded first-round opponents in two of her three previous Grand Slam tournaments but a repeat never looked on the cards as the world No 10 coasted through her opening match here on Tuesday at the Australian Open.

Konta had warned that Madison Brengle could be a “tricky” player, but the world No 90 rarely threatened to match the achievements of Su-Wei Hsieh and Aleksandra Krunic, who had upset the 26-year-old Briton at last year’s French and US Opens respectively. Konta needed just 66 minutes to win 6-3, 6-1 and book a second-round meeting on Thursday with Bernarda Pera, the world No 123.

Brengle, who is the last player to have beaten Serena Williams thanks to her victory over the Australian Open champion in Auckland last year, made Konta hit plenty of balls but lacked the firepower to trouble her opponent on a consistent basis.

Konta, who played with her customary aggression, cracked 37 winners to Brengle’s four. Most of them were struck from the baseline, but the Briton also reaped a useful dividend from her regular forays to the net.

“I wanted to make sure I was playing most of the match in my comfort zone,” Konta said of her aggressive approach. “She gets a lot of balls back. As you saw in some of those points, I think that's definitely in her comfort zone.”

Brengle was hampered by a vein condition which has troubled her through her career. She suffers from CRPS, which causes her right arm to swell. “When you can [only] feel two fingers on your hand, it’s a factor,” the 27-year-old American said afterwards. “It’s hard, but I’m doing the best I can.”

The good friendship between Brengle and Konta, who have known each other for more than 10 years, was put aside as the Briton powered to victory.

“We just get on really well and we share passions in books,” Konta said afterwards. “For Christmas and birthdays, she's literally always getting me books. I’m always getting her Molton Brown. It's a nice trade-off.”

After an overcast and comparatively chilly first day, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature up to a pleasant 22C as Konta and Brengle opened proceedings in Hisense Arena, which is the third show court at Melbourne Park.

Konta was quickly into her stride, breaking serve in the third game and again in the seventh. After a hiccup when she served for the opening set – from 40-30 up she made three successive errors to hand Brengle her only break of the match – Konta made amends by breaking to love in the following game. From 1-1 in the second set Konta won five games in a row to complete her victory.

“I thought it was a great first round for me to fight through and battle through and stay strong in the way I wanted to play out there,” Konta said afterwards. “I feel I did that. Overall I'm happy with how I was able to compete.”

Asked how she had improved her game so much in recent years, Konta said: “I think I have become physically stronger. I have matured physically but also emotionally and mentally.

“I think Madison is the kind of player who does ask a lot of questions of the people she plays. She gets a lot of balls back. I think you also need patience to play with her. Personally, that's definitely one thing I have got better at over the years.”

Pera, Konta’s next opponent, beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-2 in her first match in the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament. The 23-year-old American, who was born in Croatia and moved to the US when she was 16, secured her place in the main draw only as a “lucky loser” following the withdrawal of Margarita Gasparyan through injury.

Konta said she had won her first-round match despite not having got over what she called her “blueberry debacle”. Having gone to a supermarket here specifically to buy two punnets of blueberries, she discovered later in the day that she had left them behind in the shop.

“It's $5 I won't get back, but it's actually more the betrayal in my own mind I feel so upset about,” she said with a smile. “Literally I only went to buy blueberries. I don't know where my mind was.”