Johanna Konta beaten in French Open semis as maiden grand slam final hopes ended by Marketa Vondrousova

Johanna Konta was beaten in straight sets by Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova

This appeared a golden chance for Konta to become the first British woman to win a slam singles title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977, but she let winning positions in both sets slip away and went down 7-5 7-6 (2).

In the end it was 19-year-old Vondrousova who showed the greater composure, coming back from 5-3 down in both sets.

The first set was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Konta, who had three set points at 5-3 only to lose four games in a row.

As the players took golf carts out into the botanic gardens, where a disappointingly sparse crowd had gathered for the hastily-arranged contest on Court Simonne Mathieu, Konta looked relaxed.

But this was a different scenario from her two previous semi-finals given she found herself, remarkably, as the most experienced player left in the tournament.

Vondrousova had never been beyond the fourth round at a slam before and her nerves were obvious in the first game with back-to-back double faults, while Konta clinched the break with a backhand winner down the line.

By the time Vondrousova won her first point, Konta had already won 10, but the British player let her opponent off the hook by placing a forehand wide of the open court and that settled the Czech down.

Ahead of her first grand slam final, Vondrousova told ITV4: "It was a very tough match today and I'm just happy that I kept my nerves at the end and so happy with everything.

"I'm just so happy with everything."