Jo Konta KO’d by ice cream seller Sorana Cirstea as flaky Brit melts in New York sunshine at US Open

FLAKY Jo Konta melted in the New York sunshine as she was dumped out of the US Open by an ice-cream selling Romanian.

The frustrated British No 1 will be feeling sore on the plane back to the UK at the way she departed New York following defeat to Sorana Cirstea.

Brit Jo Konta still believes she can win a Grand Slam despite a shock exit

Romanian outsider Sorana Cirstea was outplayed in the first set but battled back to KO British No1 Jo Konta in the US Open second round

Asked if she still retained the belief she could win a Major one day, she replied: “Yes, I do. That’s why I keep playing. That’s why I keep training.”

Asked what went wrong, Konta added: “Well, my opponent played better than me.

“I obviously started better. I think my level was a lot higher than hers in the first set.

“But she’s a great player. She’s had some amazing results also in the past in her career.

“She obviously raised her level. We were battling kind of toe-to-toe, really.

“She just was better in the end. What we’ve seen in every tournament is that these are the best players in the world, so they can play incredible tennis. That’s what she did.”

‘INCREDIBLE TENNIS’

Konta, the No 9 seed, won the opening set against Cirstea and looked in command of the second-round clash.

Yet she then lost her way, lost her serve and was bombed out 2-6 7-6 6-4.

This was just the second time the two had met since that infamous Fed Cup World Cup play-off tie in April 2017.

The Brit was left in tears after being verbally abused by foul-mouthed Romanian captain Ilie Nastase, who was later banned from the tie.

Cirstea claimed Konta had “over-reacted” by crying in their match but the triumphant Brit defended her actions.

No9 seed Jo Konta seemed in command but lost 2-6 7-6 6-4

Cirstea — whose family own an ice-cream factory in Romania — got off to  a disastrous start.

The nervous world No 77 opened up with a double fault and then she was broken three times in the first set.

Konta secured the first-set advantage with a  beautiful backhand winner.

Martina Navratilova, who knows a thing or two about Grand Slam tennis, tipped Konta to win in straight sets.

But that prophecy proved inaccurate as the Konta first serve started to unravel and the Bucharest battler drew level with a blistering ace in the  second-set tie-breaker.

Konta took an extended eight-minute toilet break before the third set, maybe trying to unsettle her opponent.

But she was then  broken in a ten-minute seventh game.

And Cirstea sealed the upset with a superb ace.

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