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AEGON CLASSIC

June 20, 2017

Johanna Konta

Birmingham, England

J. KONTA/L. Tsurenko

6-3, 7-6

Q. That was a good comeback in the second set. Can you talk us through what was going on?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think overall the break serves were quite tough. I felt I actually throughout the whole match maybe just dropped my level a little bit. In that one service game, when she broke me and she gained momentum back and actually started playing better as well. So it was actually really tough to kind of, I guess, hold on, and then just looking to get back into that set. But I felt I stayed in each point quite well. I competed well in each of them, and I really just tried to do the best that I could. Also dealing with her serve, I thought she served quite smart, and I think she varied her spins on that, so it was quite difficult to judge and to adjust. So I thought I also did better at that towards the end of that second set.

Q. I was watching an interview with you on your Instagram where you cited a quote from the film "Sing," and in particular I think it was "Piggy Power," and you alluded to the fact that your spirit animal was, therefore, a pig.
JOHANNA KONTA: I love pigs.

Q. Do you think you showed that great determination today and would you stand by the pig as your favorite spirit animal?
JOHANNA KONTA: So you're saying I was a pig out there today?

Q. No. Just having the determination of a pig the way you played today.
JOHANNA KONTA: I'm not sure when a pig shows great determination. I don't really know the habits of pigs that well. But I do love pigs in general. And what are they called now? They're kind of like oversized guinea pigs.

Q. Oh capybara.
JOHANNA KONTA: Yeah. I love capybara, too. They're so cute. But I think aside from the fact that I love pigs, I think today on court I felt I competed well, but you need to against players like Lesia and pretty much everyone in the draw. There's no easy round. And also the margins on the grass are quite fine, so there was not a lot in that second set.

Q. Coco has won. What sort of pork power will you need against her in the next round?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don't know. What's the question exactly?

Q. What will you need to do in the next round? Coco has won two sets.
JOHANNA KONTA: Oh, Coco won? Oh, I didn't even know who I was playing.

Q. You haven't met her before? You haven't played her before, have you?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think I have, although I'm thinking in the juniors maybe. I don't know if I have in the seniors. I don't know. She's a very big player. She's got a lot of fire power, a lot of weapons. And I know she enjoys the grass. I think it was last year or the year before I think she made quarters or fourth round of Wimbledon. So she's done well on this surface previously. So I think it'll be a tough match.

Obviously I've just found out from you who I'm playing. So I haven't spoken to my team yet in terms of preparing for that match. But I think like today, it'll be a tough match and I'll need to really try and apply myself every point.

Q. Did you call a doctor in the second set?
JOHANNA KONTA: I did, yes.

Q. And can you say what that was for?
JOHANNA KONTA: I'd rather not.

Q. But you're feeling okay?
JOHANNA KONTA: Yeah. No, I think -- yeah. Everything is fine.

Q. Obviously you haven't had a lot of chance to practice here, coming from Nottingham. How are the conditions compared to Nottingham? Are the courts similar or different, the speed of them?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think like with every other surface where there's always a slight -- it does vary slightly within hardcourts and clay courts. I think the grass here is a little bit faster than in Nottingham. I think there's just more grass. It's longer grass, I think. I don't know if that's accurate, but it definitely feels like there's just more of it on this surface.

But it's a beautiful grass court here as well, so I'm really enjoying playing on the surface here again. And yeah, I enjoyed my time on the centre court.

Q. Obviously the clay season was so open in the women's game. It seems like grass maybe could be even more open. I don't know, how do you see it sort of going into Wimbledon?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don't think that it's any different than the rest of our season right now. I think the depth in our sport, I think the depth in women's tennis is getting stronger and stronger. So I think it's more of a fact that we are having better and better players consistently throughout Top 100, even Top 150. I mean, honestly, you get very few matches now where it's not a competition, I think. I think that comes through in so many quality of the matches that you see throughout each tournament.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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