Eastbourne International: Konta: '˜I can't wait to play in front of home fans again'

Tennis star Joanna Konta lines up with ball boys and girls from Cavendish and Moira House School today at the Nature Valley International Tournament at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-180626-123921002

British No 1 Johanna Konta embarks on her hometown campaign this afternoon, taking on Aleksandra Krunic.

The Eastbourne native, who is third up on centre court, said she was excited to make her return to the Devonshire Park courts.

“When you get the opportunity to play in front of big crowd they bring energy to the match,” said Konta. “It’s a privilege for an athlete to play in front of their home crowd, so for me it’s especially great to be playing here as the fans have always given me a lot of support.

“It’s a very strong field this year - as it is every year - so this is a good opportunity to keep working on good habits and to try to battle my way through this draw and to do as well as possible. Every tournament is an opportunity to perform and gain ranking points.

“I’m really looking forward to this event and playing some great tennis here.”

No 3 seed Petra Kvitova also begins her Eastbourne campaign on Tuesday with a tricky second round assignment against qualifier

Kateryna Bondarenko. The Czech two-time Wimbledon champion returns to Eastbourne in top form having claimed the Nature Valley Classic title in Birmingham last week.

In other Day Three action, British wild card recipient Cameron Norrie takes on German qualifier Daniel Brands, and No.5 seed Jelena Ostapenko faces Kaia Kanepi.

There are a limited number of tickets available for the 2018 Nature Valley International – patrons without a ticket who wish to attend, please contact the box office on 0844 5813015* before making a journey to Devonshire Park, Eastbourne.