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NATURE VALLEY CLASSIC

June 19, 2019

Johanna Konta

Birmingham, England

J. OSTAPENKO/J. Konta

6-3, 6-4

It is difficult to handle Ostapenko when she is seeing the ball like that. What were some of the challenges that you had today?

JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, I think whenever she plays at her best level, she is very, very hard to play and I think she showed that today.

It is quite frustrating to be on the court against her because it felt like any mistake I made had a bigger consequence just because I had so few opportunities in the match and so few little windows to try and build any momentum or string points together.

But I knew going into the match that there was going to be every possibility that she was going to be playing like this and I was expecting it because there is no reason why she can't play freely and when she does, she plays very well.

So yeah, I mean, I still thought I did quite a lot of good things out there, I just didn't get an opportunity to do too much more (smiling).

Q. While she is running around catching butterflies at the back of the court, if you make one mistake, it seems amplified, is that what you mean?
JOHANNA KONTA: What do you mean 'catching butterflies'?

Q. Like you say, she hits freely and... Do you feel any mistake is amplified when she is playing like that?
JOHANNA KONTA: I think when any player is putting a lot of pressure on you in the way they are playing and when they are playing very well, you get very few opportunities in the points, or in the games, to try to dictate, or try to just get a foot up and get into the match and that's basically it.

So when you don't have many opportunities and you make a mistake, it sometimes feels like it is worth more than it is just because of the few opportunities that are coming by. That's it.

Q. After that first game, you didn't have many. How frustrating is it, those four breakpoints came and went in that first game?
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, I don't think the first game decided anything of the match. I think she hit three winners after that, a great first serve, so there's not much to say on that. I didn't do anything wrong, really (smiling).

Q. In the second set, when you break back, you must have thought you finally had made a breakthrough and then she came straight back at you. I mean, obviously, she was playing really well today, but I mean you have taken some positives from it, but what do you feel let you down today?
JOHANNA KONTA: Nothing, really, to be honest. I just lost to the better player. I did the best that I could in trying to find a way to disrupt her rhythm, to get her out of her clean striking zone because she was in that zone. It was very obvious I think to everybody. So, to be honest, there's not much I could have done differently.

Q. Tough to talk after a loss, but this is you coming off the clay season, so do you think that that has had an impact, that change of surface so quickly, do you think, did you find that any way difficult?
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, it's always an adjustment period and an adjustment process when you go very quickly from one surface to the other, but that is the nature of this part of the season. Every player is pretty much in the same boat. Obviously, some of the girls have played at Nottingham, some may have played on indoor hard because of the weather.

I'd like to think that come the end of next week or thew beginning of Wimbledon, I will be that much more comfortable on the grass in the way I'm playing and also the way I'm moving, but in saying that, I thought I was moving and doing quite well.

I mean, it's maybe my fifth day on the grass. My second match on the grass. So I can definitely take a lot more good things than not from this.

Q. What will you do now going to Wimbledon? Will you go up there and start hitting early?
JOHANNA KONTA: No, I'm going down to Eastbourne.

Q. Okay.
JOHANNA KONTA: I'm going to Eastbourne.

Q. When you lose to a player that is playing that well, is that the kind of loss that doesn't affect your confidence because you know you couldn't have done much more to affect the outcome?
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, I don't think losing any match should really affect anyone's confidence that much (smiling). I definitely work very hard for it not to affect mine. At the end of the day, it's a tennis match.

So, I went in knowing, expecting my opponent to play well, which she did, and I was clear on what I wanted to do, what I tried to do out there, which I did.

I didn't always get the opportunity to execute it, a few times because I made a mistake, but most of the time was because my opponent played very well.

So, yeah, there was a few points where I could have maybe just made that ball, but at the end of the day, I mean, mistakes are part of tennis and I cannot judge myself too harshly on missing a couple of balls when my opponent is playing as well as she did.

Q. What is the best thing about playing Eastbourne?
JOHANNA KONTA: There's a lot of great things to be honest. For me, personally, I get to spend some time with mum and dad. So that's probably my favourite part. But the grass there is beautiful. There's always a lot of crowds, so the crowds really enjoy it down there. Yeah, that's probably the best part.

Q. Do your parents spoil you when you come home? Do you get nice home-cooked food? How does it work?
JOHANNA KONTA: No, they do. They are still working so that's one reason (laughing). No, they always like having me home (smiling).

Q. How do you balance your schedule at this time of year? You want to max out your grass court preparation, and support all the British tournaments, usually play all three, but you want to go into Wimbledon relatively fresh and this year the French Open success meant that Nottingham fell by the wayside?
JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, that's -- me not playing Nottingham is part of that management. I really would have loved to have played Nottingham. It is one of my favourite tournaments. However, coming off not just the French, but the few weeks before that, I have played a lot of matches in the last month and a half, so I took that week away to give myself a little bit of time.

But with the nature of this part of the season, you have very little time to play with, so I'm taking a match at a time, a tournament at a time, and I mean I only played two matches here, so I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a few more in Eastbourne and then looking forward to Wimbledon.

Q. After a loss, mental health is an important thing to obtain, so what do you do to make sure you have got a healthy mind?
JOHANNA KONTA: I just look at my dog. I look at my dog (smiling). You guys saw him. I mean, I think anyone who is struggling, just take a look at that face and you probably will do a little better (laughing).

But I mean keeping good a perspective, to be honest. I think just keeping things in perspective. I'm healthy. At the end of the day, it's just a tennis match which I didn't end up winning, but if I would have won it, it shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all, yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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