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AEGON INTERNATIONAL

June 22, 2016

Johanna Konta

Eastbourne, England

J. KONTA/P. Kvitova

5-7, 6-4, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was a very good third set. It probably was a lot tighter than the scoreline suggested. What was your take on it?
JOHANNA KONTA: Definitely. And especially at the beginning of that third set. I don't quite remember, but I'm quite certain we had some deuce games there and definitely 30-Alls. There was a match in it definitely at the beginning, and I was happy with how I was able to carry but also create more momentum going into that third.

Yeah, overall I thought the match was played at a very good level for both of us. I think it just, yeah, was about being able to string together a few more points. I thought I maybe may have done that a bit better than her today.

Q. How did you pick yourself up after losing the first set? You played so well to get to 5-2 and it seemed all of a sudden you lost the first set. What were you telling yourself in the second?
JOHANNA KONTA: Just really keep going. Really keep in mind the things that I did well and take as much from that as I can. Yeah, try to have a very short memory and keep moving forward, keep moving on.

Q. Looking ahead, obviously you will get a slightly longer break because your next match, your potential opponents weren't able to play tonight. Are you tempted to watch and scout or do you leave that to your coaches and just focus on you?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, I'm not sure -- I don't know if my coach will be watching or not. I'm in the fortunate position where I have played both of the players before, although I have never played Andrea on this surface.

But I am playing the winner of Petkovic/ Makarova, right? Okay. I just wanted -- I thought that's what I heard. But you know me. I don't really look at it until... (Smiling.)

Yeah, I guess I have been on the court against both of them, but I'll definitely have a chat with my coach if not this evening, maybe tomorrow, because of that extended bit of time and we don't know who I play yet. Also depends what time I come out here. We will see where I am on the schedule. But hopefully it will be nice to have a lie-in. I really enjoy sleeping when it's thundering and raining outside, so hopefully there is a full-on thunderstorm tonight.

Q. Where do you think this win ranks for you in your career?
JOHANNA KONTA: It's definitely one of my biggest wins, even though I don't think she's in the top 10 this week. She has been a top 10 player or top 5 player for years and years and years now.

She really is a champion, and so I am very happy with the level I was able to produce, you know, even if it didn't go my way and just keep, you know, kept plugging away throughout that whole match.

Q. The fact that you have beaten her as well on this surface in that manner must be very encouraging for Wimbledon?
JOHANNA KONTA: Definitely very happy. It's no secret that grass is definitely one of her favorite surfaces. Yeah, I'm very happy with just the level I was able to produce. And the fact that it was against her is, you know, a bit of a pat on the back.

Q. She's just told us that she thinks you can win the whole tournament. What's your reaction to that?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, that would be nice. But right now I'm just in the quarters and I'm still waiting for my opponents to play.

Yeah, that's my next challenge, my next battle. That's all I can afford to think about.

Q. How important was the crowd today in helping get that second set, pushing you on in the third? And how important could they be through all the other matches?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think just the environment they create, not just for me but in general to compete in, that's what really pushes us through. Believe it or not, sometimes even just to have the noise, even if it's not for you, it really is a huge boost in just the energy that you feed off.

I'm obviously in a very lucky position that it's for me (smiling) and I'm very grateful for it. Yeah, no, it's -- yeah, I guess there's not really words to kind of describe how it feels. Yeah.

Q. Do you get a chance to enjoy matches like that, or are you so focused on each point that it's hard to enjoy it at the time?
JOHANNA KONTA: I was definitely really focused and really trying to keep myself in a very even keel and just thinking about what I wanted to happen out there.

But then throughout the match you do work on also keeping things in perspective. So a couple of times when I was out there, I was like, well, you know, I'm so lucky to be having such a great battle against such a champion and at home.

So, you know, you do try to keep things in perspective, because that also helps in keeping yourself calm and keeping your enjoyment there.

Q. In the final set you really seemed to open up and play free tennis and enjoy it, really.
JOHANNA KONTA: I definitely raised my level in that third set. I was kind of seeing the tennis ball a little bit like a football. So I kind of just went with it. (Smiling.)

But, yeah, no, I'm just really happy I was able to just really keep the pressure on. And quite honestly, you know, you can't afford to do much less against players like this, because they will be there till the very end.

So in that sense, the third-set scoreline is not really reflective of the level of tennis that she continued to play till the very end. She kept fighting, and I knew that I needed to, yeah, to really apply myself to get myself over the line.

Q. It's a big summer for sports. There are a lot of sporting events going on around the globe.
JOHANNA KONTA: But tennis is the best.

Q. But we want to know if you weren't a tennis player what kind of sport you'd be as good at or anything like that?
JOHANNA KONTA: Oh, it's something -- probably as I had never -- maybe running. Okay, athletics. I could have done athletics. I did a little bit of athletics when I was younger, but in terms of a team sports or contact sports, oh, I would have needed to have grown up with it, because I get very scared and frightened. I'm not very physically confrontational.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
JOHANNA KONTA: Yeah, but it's not really -- I'm not trying to wrestle with a lightning bolt now.

Q. Dad was watching?
JOHANNA KONTA: Yeah, dad was there.

Q. Was he listening to the Hungary match, as well?
JOHANNA KONTA: Probably not. Probably not. Oh, he was? He was. (Laughter.)

I didn't realize he was able to multi-task like that. Then he was.

Really?

Q. Is this your sister?
JOHANNA KONTA: No, this is the agent.

Q. Have you paid any attention to the Wimbledon seedings this morning?
JOHANNA KONTA: No.

Q. Do you know your seed?
JOHANNA KONTA: No. 17? Almost upstairs. Almost made it upstairs. Yeah, woo.

I mean, until the draw comes out and until you start preparing for your first match -- you guys know how I feel about seedings and, yeah, but that's -- that's great.

Q. On the flip side, who do you think is going to be a real danger, an unseeded player as a danger? We saw Wozniacki having a good run, coming back, and Vesnina. Who do you think will be a danger to look out for?
JOHANNA KONTA: Quite honestly, everybody. I think what grass does afford is that it can really level the playing field in times because of the quickness of the surface and also the, you know, the stage that Wimbledon is.

A lot of people, a lot of players rise to the occasion whom you might not expect to. Honestly, yeah, you mentioned some names. Vesnina, is she not seeded? She's been playing at a very high level. I played her in Miami and she was already playing extremely well there.

Yeah, I would not be able to pick names out of a hat, but I'm quite certain that, you know, throughout the week there will be some really high quality matches.

Q. Going back to the seeding, you're the first British player to be seeded at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984.
JOHANNA KONTA: I'm pretty sure Andy was seeded last year.

Q. But a woman in ladies singles since Jo Durie.
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, it's a great achievement for British tennis, I think. It's I think a really nice thing to be a headline, but for me personally I'm just really happy to be competing at the event. So whether I'm 17th seed or unseeded and ranked 80, I'm just happy to be a part of the event in general.

But, yeah, right now I'm still here and I didn't even know. So, yeah.

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