ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2021

Johanna Konta

Press Conference

S. CIRSTEA/J. Konta

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You started really well out there. What did you kind of feel about the match and obviously the way that it progressed?

JOHANNA KONTA: I think, I mean, I think I did a lot of good things out there but obviously not enough. I think she found her footing quite well, and I couldn't quite adapt well enough to how she was doing. She was hitting through the court really well and playing fast and playing big, which is how she looks to play.

I just didn't find consistent-enough answers. I think I had a few too many loose return games as well, which just didn't keep enough, I guess, so-called kind of pressure on her to keep also playing her best tennis.

Yeah. That's about it.

Q. When you're playing an opponent who is playing as well as that, do you think the lack of matches you have had recently did leave you at something of a disadvantage?

JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, obviously if you have played a lot of matches, you do get some benefit from that. Obviously I don't have that.

But it's not the deciding factor. It's not the be-all, end-all. You start winning matches from somewhere at some point.

I'm not sure how that would have played a role in today, to be honest, but it's always nice to be coming into matches having won matches.

Q. Heather alluded to the fact that there weren't many British players in the top 100, and therefore, not much of a sort of competition. You've obviously been way ahead of the pack now, credit to you, for quite a number of years. Would it help in any sense, do you think, if there was more of a kind of ground swell behind you to challenge you or even sort of keep you company?

JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, I think it would be great to have more top British women's players, the top British players in general, men and women. I think that would be amazing. I mean, for me personally, I'm not lonely (smiling). I'm okay. I mean, I'd love to have more compatriots with Heather and myself, but I think that can come in time.

But, I mean, you know, I guess tennis is a funny one like that. It's not so much just about national standing and it's very much about kind of your world ranking. So I guess you don't necessarily feel that as much because you are surrounded by, I guess, your colleagues constantly who are from international backgrounds.

Q. Just your observations on the fact we only had one winner at Roland Garros in the singles this year. Obviously everyone lost in the first round last year. Is that a trend? Is that just one of those things? What's your assessment of that?

JOHANNA KONTA: I hit one winner? Sorry, I don't understand.

Q. Cam Norrie was the only winner for Britain in singles first round this year, and all six lost last year.

JOHANNA KONTA: I mean, that just is what it is. I mean, it happens. There's other nations as well who have players losing in the first round.

Actually, out of 128 players 64 are losing in the first round, so, you know, it's going to happen that they can be from the same nation.

You know, I know everybody who is here steps out on court to do their best and to try and make it to the second round and then the third and then the fourth. So I don't think there is any more to really say on that.

Q. Just seeing what you're planning to do the next few weeks, you're down to playing Nottingham. Wimbledon is only a month away now. Have you got enough time? Will you be able to get enough tournaments and matches to play yourself into a bit of a form before then?

JOHANNA KONTA: Well, I'll be doing the best that I can, like I did today, and literally I'll just be doing the best that I can to be playing the best tennis that I can each time I step out on court, so we'll see how I do.

Q. How do you normally find the transition to grass? Does the fact that obviously there weren't any grass court tournaments last year, do you think maybe it might take longer to adjust to grass or not?

JOHANNA KONTA: I don't know. Obviously I'll need to take my time on it just to make sure that my body adapts to it properly, so not going guns blazing. You know, one thing that's always the best about grass is the excitement of it.

Obviously it's not going to be normal. We're not going to be staying at home. It's going to be quite different. But it's still grass. It's still home. It's still a home crowd. It's still home comforts in that sense, so I think it will just be exciting.

Q. You have a lot of other things now in your life. Recently engaged, as you told us the other day, and business interests. Would you honestly say that you have the same motivation and the same passion for life on tour as you have had over the last few years?

JOHANNA KONTA: I think obviously you do evolve and you do change, so even the way I was playing my tennis two years ago was different to two years before that to two years before that. It keeps evolving as I grow up, as I turn from a teenager to young adult to now a 30-year-old woman.

So, you know, life changes. But I'm here because I'm training to be here, to compete. So I will be playing until I want to do that.

Q. If Cam Norrie wins, he might play Rafa in the third round. Can you just talk to me about how impressed you have been by Cam in the last year, particularly on clay, and on and off the court?

JOHANNA KONTA: I think Cam's brilliant. I think Cam is one of the nicest guys we have at home. I think he's incredibly hard-working, he puts his head down. I think he's a great player.

I think he plays the game well, and, yeah, I think he really is walking his own path. The way he went to American college, as well, he's doing it his own way. Yeah, no, I hope he does really well.

Q. You mentioned that things change. I was just wondering how you process and take losses now compared to kind of I guess when you were younger?

JOHANNA KONTA: Well, obviously I think as you grow older, what was very important to me in my development kind of through the years is perspective and kind of trying to see bigger picture and all that, and so definitely when I was younger, it was a lot more difficult to handle the losses than it is now.

I think I just handled them in a different way. I tried to absorb them in more of a constructive way and also with just more perspective. So I think that's probably the biggest thing that changes, has changed for me throughout the years.