Eastbourne’s Johanna Konta made a strong start to her clay court campaign with a straight-sets victory over Yulia Putintseva in the first round of the Madrid Open this afternoon. 

The British number one chose to skip the Billie Jean King Cup clash with Mexico earlier this month in order to prioritise her clay preparations and looked sharp at the Caja Magica.

She has had some good battles with Putintseva in the past but Konta became increasingly dominant as the match wore on and triumphed 6-4 6-2 for only her third victory of the season.

Konta said: “I was really pleased with it. I thought I put in a solid performance. It wasn’t easy, but I thought I was able to create momentums in different parts. It’s always nice to get a win. But I’m more pleased in the way I was playing. It is continually improving.”

The 29-year-old pulled out of the tournament in Stuttgart last week because of coronavirus concerns, and said: “I think it’s more the logistical side of it. It’s the feeling of how much stress of it am I willing to take on, how I feel about the environment I’m going into.”