Following fantastic results at Grand Slam level and successfully attaining Top 20 status, Johanna Konta will be searching to consolidate those results and thus become a consistently performing Top 20 player. The meteoric rise to the higher echelons of the women’s game became visible at the US Open last year, where Konta won six matches in a row from the qualifying rounds up to the Round of 16 before losing to Petra Kvitova.
In 2015, Konta entered the Top 100 of women’s tennis for the first time in her career–rising from a year end ranking of World No. 150 to No. 47 in the space of a year. Konta’s success has not been some coincidence either. Coached by Esteban Carril and trained heavily on the Spanish courts in Barcelona at the Sanchez-Casal Academy. The thorough preparation and dedication to her tennis ultimately catapulted her to unprecedented heights that, at one point, she could only dream of.
Johanna Konta Starts her Birmingham Campaign
Another factor that has aided Konta’s smooth progress up the rankings is her attitude and perspective on the game, which is fairly natural with a lot of the top players on tour. In disappointing defeats Konta always gives a lot of credit to her opponent, as we witnessed in Roland Garros when she was outplayed by Julia Goerges in the first round. On the contrary, after prominent wins she stays very level-headed and keeps her feet firmly on the ground–which is a welcoming trait to see for a top tennis professional. Konta never gets carried away and takes every match as it comes.
The semifinal finish in Australia at the first major of the year reflected Konta’s ability to win the matches she was supposed to win. She earned hard-fought shocking victories over Venus Williams and Ekaterina Makarova, but also got through matches against the less-experienced players when her draw had opened up considerably.
Johanna Konta will be desperate to gather some momentum going into Wimbledon having lost early in Nottingham. Her opponent in her first match of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham will be Misaki Doi. Konta has won 3 of the 4 meetings between the two but Misaki Doi managed to win the most recent on the clay courts of Rome. Doi is a tough competitor. She struggles with consistency but has improved significantly over the last twelve months. The Japanese star won her first WTA title in Luxembourg last year and also backed that up by making another final in Kaohsiung earlier this year.
A talking point coming into this encounter is whether Konta is 100% match ready following a leg injury that hindered her progress in Nottingham last week. If Konta is fit and able to play she should get through this match in straight sets.
Main Photo:
