Konta survives ‘manic Monday’ to keep British hopes alive

Johanna Konta survived “manic Monday” to keep British hopes of Wimbledon singles glory alive, but the day saw the end of teenage rising star Cori Gauff’s rollercoaster ride.

Ms Konta came back from a set down to beat Petra Kvitova, meaning she will be back on court on Tuesday to face another Czech player, Barbora Strycova.

The 28-year-old vowed not to become complacent, even though many of the top seeds have been whittled out of the competition.

“Every person that’s still in the draw, there’s a reason why they’re still in the draw – the eight best players of this tournament are still playing,” she said.

Britons can also look forward to Andy Murray’s second doubles outing with Serena Williams, who will be the last to play on centre court.

Ms Williams has even revealed her choice of team name.

“We haven’t discussed it,” she said. “He did tweet Serandy. I was like, ‘I like Murena’. My vote is still for Murena.”

Monday brought heartbreak for 15-year-old Cori, whose incredible winning streak came to an end after she was defeated by Romania’s Simona Halep.

Her eccentric personality – including using her new-found fame to express her love for singer and rapper Jaden Smith – won the hearts of the British people.

“It was really surprising because you don’t really expect this kind of support when you’re in another country, not your home country,” a tearful Cori said in the wake of her defeat to Simona Halep.

She added: “I really did feel like I was probably playing in New York somewhere.

“But, yeah, I’m just really happy and happy that people believe in me.”

When asked what she hoped her new fans would take from her Wimbledon run, she replied: “I hope they learned about me that I’m a fighter.”

At the start of the day Anna Wintour, the notoriously hard to impress editor of US Vogue, said she could see a future cover star in Cori.

But Ms Wintour joked that Cori would have to get “a little older” first.

Also still flying the flag for the British is Jamie Murray – his mixed doubles match with the US’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands was suspended due to the fading light.

Their battle against Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Croatian Mate Pavic will conclude on Tuesday.