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QATAR TOTAL OPEN

February 13, 2018

Johanna Konta

Doha, Qatar

J. KONTA/B. Pera

7-6, 6-1

Q. How does it feel to get the win after obviously playing at the Australian Open?
JOHANNA KONTA: Definitely I'm very happy to have come through that. I knew going into the match that I was going to be tough, and it was actually similar conditions as it was in Melbourne, although it's a lot windier today than it was in Melbourne. And it makes it quite tricky to play against her. So very happy to have fought through that and dealt with the quick turnaround coming here from Fed Cup as well. So that was a good challenge for me. And yeah, just excited that I get to play again tomorrow.

Q. And what's it like having -- you saw the draw. Were you just like, yes, I get to tackle that challenge again or is it kind of annoying to play the same person over again?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think it's more the former. I definitely was excited to play her again. I mean I knew it was going to be a challenge, and I'm a big believer in personal growth and improvement, self-improvement. So I definitely took it as an opportunity to really do that. Even if I wasn't going to get through the match with a win, I still wanted to make sure that I did more and just did a little bit better than last time.

Q. And how does Fed Cup add to your year? Obviously a lot of fun as well. Does it carry over to tournaments? Do you hang out with the same players more often because you had this experience last week?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, unfortunately most of the team is actually not here this week. However, we definitely had a really good time together as a team. I think we generally do every year, but I definitely think in particular this year was a lot of fun with the group of girls we had.

I think for me personally it was also a great opportunity to play matches in succession. I had three great matches out there, which I definitely haven't played as many matches at the beginning of this year as I have in the last couple of years. So it was a really good way for me to get some match fitness in and to, yeah, represent my country.

Q. And what do you like so far about Doha, I guess as a tournament and venue and the courts. You probably haven't seen much of the city, but if you have.
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean it's my first time to Doha. So I'd never been to the site before yesterday. So I definitely am enjoying settling in. I mean I think the courts are great. There's enough court and facilities. Yeah. So far I'm actually enjoying the food. I'm having hummus with hummus right now, a lot of it, which I'm really enjoying. And yeah, overall, again, haven't been here very long, I think about 48 hours.

Q. How tough is it to find time from your schedule, usually it's hotel, courts, hotel, courts, to actually see something and relax? The places we go are insane, but do you ever actually make the effort or have the chance?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think if you get the opportunity, you try to take it. However, a lot of it does depend on scheduling as well. It's much more difficult, I find, to do that if it's more of an evening schedule, just because your whole day is spent around preparing for the evening. However, if you're playing first or second on in the morning, then you usually have the afternoon where it's more of an option to go do stuff. So I think it's going to be a little bit tricky this week. However, that's a very good problem to have if I'm not able to sightsee if I'm playing.

Q. And then winter Olympics, are you watching, and if so, are there certain sports that attract you?
JOHANNA KONTA: I haven't gotten the chance to watch, actually, at all. I'm trying to keep up to date through an online app or just the newspaper just to see how the Brits are doing. So yeah, I haven't been able to watch too much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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