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ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2018

Johanna Konta

Paris, France

Y. PUTINTSEVA/J. Konta

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It looked like a solid start, and then, after a couple of shaky games, it seemed to get away from you very quickly. Is that how it felt?
JOHANNA KONTA: Actually, to be honest, I think the whole match really didn't feel like a great match for me, quite honestly. It was just -- I never really quite found my rhythm. I never really quite found the way I wanted to play. And I think, obviously, there's some of that to do with her. I think she played quite smart. Otherwise, I think I just had a bad match.

Q. And in terms of you said how you wanted to play. Can you give us an idea of what you were kind of setting out to do?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, I mean, I knew what she likes to do. She likes to build her points, and I think she -- what she does well is that exactly, and also she obviously runs well. She gets a lot of balls back. She plays with good heaviness on her ball.

What I was trying to do was kind of take her time away, look to move forward. I think she does play better with time. And, unfortunately, I couldn't do it well enough, and I think she -- yeah, basically.

Q. So the explanation, then, for the very high error count, was it you think you were maybe trying to force the match too much, trying to take too much time away from her too soon and that's why there were 32 unforced?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think unforced errors, obviously, are an indication of -- well, a number of things, but I think not being able to find your margins, which I obviously wasn't able to.

And, I mean, whether I was trying to force too much or not, I mean, I don't quite know yet. I haven't spoken to my coach yet and gone through the match.

I mean, I think I just didn't do a good enough job on really countering her balls. I think the heaviness of her ball actually reacts quite well with the conditions today, and I think I didn't adjust well enough to those balls.

Now, what I can do better next time? I'm going to have a chat and we'll see.

Q. Do you think, Jo, of changing tactics during the match? Did you go in with any sort of Plan B in mind in case that didn't work?
JOHANNA KONTA: No, because that's the way I play. That's how I play my best tennis. Now, I'm not going to change that, because then I won't be doing myself justice, and I won't be giving myself the best chance of actually coming through a match.

So in terms of how I play, that stays the same. There's no Plan B for how I play. Obviously, I could have done a better job of just being that much tighter on my first balls, on my returns, on just being a bit more solid within that.

But within the way I play, that's not going to change.

Q. Just wondering, obviously you're aware of your record here, and we've asked you about it before. We saw you play in Rome, some of us, and you looked to be playing pretty well there. And you've played well in Rome before, and, obviously, you've struggled a bit more here. Is there an element of horses for courses kind of creeping into this now?
JOHANNA KONTA: I don't actually know what that means. I have never heard that one before.

Q. Well, yeah. Certain places you just instinctively feel comfortable playing and certain places -- you develop a history with places.
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, possibly. I mean, I would like to think that we're not heading to a self-fulfilling prophecy here.

But, I mean, it definitely I don't think helps anyone's preparation if the linger around it is like, Oh, she hasn't done well there before.

But, again, I have felt success here before through qualifying and coming through that. And, actually, out of my four main draw matches that I've played here, this is probably the one I'm most disappointed in terms of the level that I played. So, for me, that's probably -- this one is a bit harder to take in that way.

But I would like to think that I'm still more in control of kind of my tennis and my career than any sort of superstition coming into any tournament.

Q. There was a discussion on television this morning, just some of the pundits were expressing a bit of surprise that at the end of the last two seasons you changed coach. Just sort of looking back, can you sort of explain why that was the case and are you comfortable with Michael after five months?
JOHANNA KONTA: I'm very happy with Michael. I mean, the reasons are quite different with both scenarios. I mean, with Esteban, I was working with him for over two-and-a-half years. So it's not quite the same that I'm changing year after year.

With Wim, our relationship just came to a natural end, our working relationship, that is. Because actually, when I see him, I really enjoy seeing him and we have really good times.

But, yeah, my relationship with Michael is going well. I think we're doing good work. And I enjoy stability, so I'm looking forward to just continuing to work.

Q. You touched briefly on the fact that there were comments on your form on clay in the past. When you come to a tournament like Roland Garros, do you feel those external pressures, and do you take them into the tournament with you?
JOHANNA KONTA: Well, you guys can answer this for me, then. If every time you went in to work, let's say you went into work because -- obviously, you travel, and let's say for a few years your pieces of writing have just been crap every time when you come into Roland Garros. Right? Just crap. And then your colleagues start to say, You know, you really suck around that time. And that happens, you know, for a few years.

How would you guys digest that, and would you feel any sort of kind of back, lingering kind of, oh, you know what? I want to prove these bastards wrong, but, you know, it's just kind of lingering there.

So it's not something I would like to buy into, and I don't think I do. However, you guys don't make it easy.

Q. I understand what you're saying about the sort of negativity here, but turning that on its head, how much positivity do you draw from how well you've done, like, moving into the next phase of the season and then onto the hard courts in America where you have traditionally done much better?
JOHANNA KONTA: I like every part of the season. I like the change in the surfaces. I enjoy the flow of the season, how that goes.

And, I mean, after the end of Miami, things pick up in a big way in terms of the amount of tournaments that are going on and the back-to-back nature of the season with tournaments.

And, I mean, I've still got doubles here, so I'm actually still looking forward to still playing. And I think with me playing more doubles this year is also contributing to help me get a bit more of the match play that I'm lacking on the singles side compared to the other two years.

I'm obviously looking forward to the grass. I'm looking forward to being at home. I obviously love the lead-up tournaments to Wimbledon and then Wimbledon of course as well. And then, yeah, I'll be looking to play a strong and full hard court season in the U.S. and then into Asia.

Obviously, this is all on me being healthy, staying healthy. And, knock on wood, I have been physically healthy enough to keep playing. And I'm just going to keep working towards getting kind of opportunities to play back-to-back matches.

I mean, I want to be back in a position where I'm required to play, four, five matches back to back. That's what I enjoy about the sport and getting to the latter stages of tournaments. So I'll keep working to get back to that position.

Q. We know there will be a lot of attention on the Brits leading up to Wimbledon, so what should the media and the press be writing about you building up to Wimbledon?
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, surprise me, guys.

I mean, I think I'm in a different position going into this grass than, for example, more so last year. Obviously, last year I had won a lot of matches coming up into the grass season, and I had had a lot of good momentum going into that part of the season. So I think my match fitness and kind of match tightness in that way was a lot stronger.

Keeping that in mind, you have to start somewhere. There's no reason why I cannot pick up wins and I cannot pick up good momentum. Actually, I feel like I picked up good momentum coming into here.

So I would still like to feel like I can learn from thisnand still move forward as I feel like I have throughout the season.

Up to you guys what you write (smiling).

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