Britain’s Johanna Konta, born in Australia of Hungarian roots, reached the US Open second round on Tuesday, but admitted the national anthem still remains a mystery.
Konta pledged to learn the words to “God Save the Queen” as soon as possible, wary of the controversy over so-called ‘plastic Brits’ who represented the country at the Olympics.
“I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know the national anthem yet. I promise I will learn it and quiz me next time,” said the Sydney-born player.
The 21-year-old, who is ranked a modest 203 in the world, came through qualifying at Flushing Meadows and defeated Hungary’s Timos Babos 6-2 7-5 for her first grand slam win on Tuesday.
Konta is the second Australia-born player to feature for Britain recently after Melbourne-born Laura Robson, who showed her promise by winning the Wimbledon junior title in 2008.
Part of the process of securing British allegiance involved taking a citizenship test which Konta insisted would exhaust the abilities of most native-born Britons.
“I thought it was quite intense. I was asking a bunch of the kids at the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) in the players lounge the questions. Half of them didn’t know the answers,” said Konta.
“I was very nervous going into the test because they don’t tell you how much you got. They only tell you if you pass or if you fail.”
Konta’s grandparents, uncles and aunts as well as an assortment of cousins still live in Hungary.
Being able to speak the language also helped in her win over the 59th-ranked Babos, a title winner in Monterrey this year.
The two women even won a doubles title in Mexico earlier this year.
Konta next faces Olga Govortsova of Belarus for a place in the last 32.