	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ROGERS CUP

July 27, 2016

Johanna Konta

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

J. KONTA/V. King

7-5, 6-1

An interview with:

JOHANNA KONTA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously you came back from a pretty successful week in Stanford. We were asking Venus the other day if she got any rest. She said no, but it wasn't a problem because you go pretty far in tournaments. What did that title give to you? Did it give you some extra confidence? Did it change anything in you, that first WTA title?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, like Venus said, if you're having little rest in between tournaments, it does mean you're going deep in them, so that's always a good problem to have.

I mean, I've had to really quickly move, actually quicker than Venus, because I was playing a day earlier than her. It was really, Right now I'm in this event.

The thing that last week has given me immediately is just match practice. I'm coming off the back of a lot of matches.

However, I try not to think of it more in-depth than that. I think last week is not a reflection of how I will do this week, nor next week, nor for the rest of the year.

It's really important to separate events and just keep staying present and keep trying to improve every day, irrelevant [sic] of what happened yesterday or what's going to happen tomorrow.

Q. Last year you were in Granby. This year you're in the semis in Australia, you were in Stanford in the final, you will be in the Olympics. You said yesterday you don't think it's a great progression, but it is a great progression. How do you see this?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think that was misinterpreted. Obviously I have come a long way in terms of ranking. However, for me, it wasn't a massive jump personally. It was very much an everyday process because I was living in it, I experience it every day. From the outside, it will look a lot more dramatic than how I live it myself.

I'm incredibly grateful for where I am, the opportunities I'm having currently, and the experiences I'm having. It will be my first Olympic Games. I think to be a part of something so historic and so monumental, I'm definitely sure my parents are incredibly proud to say that their daughter is an Olympian.

Q. You've progressed a lot. Which part of your game do you see you've made the biggest changes? Is it fitness or the mental game, your strokes?
JOHANNA KONTA: All of the above. I think you need to invest equal amount of time into all parts of your game the further you get up to the top. To be honest, even throughout, players are constantly looking to pick on what they feel is weakest in you.

So it would be silly to not invest time in certain areas because that's going to be the one they're going to pick on. It's going to be about making yourself as bulletproof as possible, as resistant as possible.

Q. Before this year, when you went back home to Britain, you were probably more on the anonymous end. This year when you went back and you were the Brit No. 1, you were the focus. How was that? Is it nice to be able to play most of your time outside of that specific spotlight of being in Britain?
JOHANNA KONTA: It was my first experience, so I think for that I did quite well. I managed things as well as I could with the experience that I had. I think I'd be very lucky to be in that position again next year.

I think you feel fortunate. It would be silly to look at it in any other way. And hopefully I'll have many seasons where that will be the case.

But as long as I keep my focus and my intentions clear, I'm able to filter in what I put my attention to, what I put my focus on, and what I don't.

To answer your question, at least I get to be at home at that stage. Everything's got pros and cons.

Q. If you win a title at Stanford, obviously it's really big news back home, but do you feel that at all from the external side? Do you have to hop on the phone with the BBC, do all of the things?
JOHANNA KONTA: I probably should, but I don't. I tell my agent I'm not doing anything. So I think it's about, you know, also individually what you take on.

I mean, also to put it in perspective, I finished my match at like half past 4:00. I got out of the tennis center at 7:30. I was up at quarter past 3:00 to get on a plane. Right now there wasn't really time to do anything. I guess it would be different if you win the title at home, say Eastbourne. I'm only driving 10 minutes home.

Again, it's in different contexts, yeah, different area.

Q. What would you say is the difference between the Johanna with the crazy summer you had last year and the Johanna that beat Venus Williams in the Stanford final this year? Do you feel any different?
JOHANNA KONTA: No, it's exactly the same Johanna. It's maybe more experienced. I had more opportunities to play certain scenarios, certain matches, certain places. Yeah, experience is different.

But you can't rush experience. That comes with time and hard work and then hopefully opportunity. But, yeah, very much the same.

Q. You were saying you were on a plane super early Monday morning. Has it had time to sink in just yet, or not because you're already in the mood for this tournament?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think I enjoyed it as much as I could at the time. It was a short turnaround. But, I mean, I definitely enjoyed my achievement of last week. I spoke to my parents. I spoke to the people that matter to me around me. I enjoyed the success with them.

But, yeah, I mean, I got here and I'm here now. I try my best to not live in the past or the future. I want to live in the present, and the present is here, yeah.

Q. You've broken into the top 20, won your first tournament. Do you have targets for the following year? Is there a major on your horizon?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don't set outcome goals for myself. I never have. It's not something I personally believe in. I very much focus on process goals. I focus on things that are under my control. That's my effort, the work that I put in every single day.

As long as I feel I'm progressing towards the kind of player and person I want to be on a daily basis, that gives me the most satisfaction.

Results come and go. Wins and losses come and go. It's really important not to really seek your happiness from that because, yeah, it's quite a rollercoaster otherwise.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297