Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is an Australian-born British professional tennis player of Hungarian descent. On 4 February 2013, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 142. Born in Sydney to Hungarian parents, Konta formerly competed as an Australian but became a British citizen in May 2012 and has subsequently represented Great Britain.
Career
The second singles title of Konta's career came at the W.O.W. Challenger in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, over Heidi El Tabakh.
Konta won the biggest title of her career so far on the green clay courts of the 2010 RBC Bank Women's Challenger in Raleigh, North Carolina. In a close encounter, Konta defeated Lindsay Lee-Waters to take the title. Konta won her second ITF singles title of the year at the $10,000 tournament in Westende, Belgium. In the final she defeated Nicky Van Dyck for the loss of just one game.
In June 2011, Konta qualified for her first WTA tour event at the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen. In the first round she fell to fourth seed Lucie Šafářová in a match that lasted over two and half hours. Konta won her fifth ITF singles title at the AEGON GB Pro-Series event in Woking in July. In the final against Laura Robson, Konta was 6–4, 1–1 up when her opponent retired. After a patchy few months interrupted by injury, Konta got back to winning ways at the $10,000 event in Madrid, beating Lucy Brown in the final.
Konta lost in the qualifying draw of the 2011 Family Circle Cup to Sania Mirza.
Konta received a main draw wildcard to Wimbledon 2012, where she was beaten 10–8 in the third set by Christina McHale. However, she qualified for the 2012 US Open – Women's Singles, bridging a gap of almost 150 places in the rankings to upset world number 59 Tímea Babos in the first round, saving ten set points in the second set. In the second round, she let a 5–2 final set lead slip against Olga Govortsova, going down 6–2, 2–6, 5–7. This run propelled Konta into the world's top 150 for the first time in her career.
The second singles title of Konta's career came at the W.O.W. Challenger in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, over Heidi El Tabakh.
Konta won the biggest title of her career so far on the green clay courts of the 2010 RBC Bank Women's Challenger in Raleigh, North Carolina. In a close encounter, Konta defeated Lindsay Lee-Waters to take the title. Konta won her second ITF singles title of the year at the $10,000 tournament in Westende, Belgium. In the final she defeated Nicky Van Dyck for the loss of just one game.
In June 2011, Konta qualified for her first WTA tour event at the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen. In the first round she fell to fourth seed Lucie Šafářová in a match that lasted over two and half hours. Konta won her fifth ITF singles title at the AEGON GB Pro-Series event in Woking in July. In the final against Laura Robson, Konta was 6–4, 1–1 up when her opponent retired. After a patchy few months interrupted by injury, Konta got back to winning ways at the $10,000 event in Madrid, beating Lucy Brown in the final.
Konta lost in the qualifying draw of the 2011 Family Circle Cup to Sania Mirza.
Konta received a main draw wildcard to Wimbledon 2012, where she was beaten 10–8 in the third set by Christina McHale. However, she qualified for the 2012 US Open – Women's Singles, bridging a gap of almost 150 places in the rankings to upset world number 59 Tímea Babos in the first round, saving ten set points in the second set. In the second round, she let a 5–2 final set lead slip against Olga Govortsova, going down 6–2, 2–6, 5–7. This run propelled Konta into the world's top 150 for the first time in her career.
Coaching
Konta formerly trained at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona and the Roddick Lavalle Academy in Texas. In January 2011, she started training at the Weybridge Tennis Academy in England under the guidance of coach Justin Sherring.
Konta formerly trained at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona and the Roddick Lavalle Academy in Texas. In January 2011, she started training at the Weybridge Tennis Academy in England under the guidance of coach Justin Sherring.
At the 2013 Australian Open, Konta failed to build on her good form from the US Open, losing out in the second qualifying round to Yi-Miao Zhou in three sets.
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