Wimbledon 2017: Johanna Konta in high spirits ahead of Championships campaign despite Eastbourne injury
The British No 1 suffered a spinal injury in her match against Angelique Kerber at Easbourne but remains pleased with her Wimbledon preparations
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Your support makes all the difference.It is time to put the medical dictionaries away and concentrate on tennis. After two days dominated by talk about the fitness of Britain’s two leading players, Johanna Konta followed Andy Murray into the main interview room at Wimbledon to assert that she too was ready to play her opening match.
For Murray’s hip read Konta’s thoracic spine. While Murray had aggravated a long-standing problem with his hip in the build-up to Wimbledon, Konta’s preparations were rudely interrupted by a nasty fall while playing in last week’s Aegon International at Eastbourne, where the bad weather had required her to play two matches on Thursday.
Having beaten Jelena Ostapenko, the French Open champion, Konta was on match point against Angelique Kerber, the world No 1 and last year’s runner-up here, when she fell, hitting her back and her head on the ground. She resumed the match after lengthy treatment and went on to complete her victory over Kerber, but pulled out of the following day’s semi-final.
“I fell on my back and then my head whipped back as well,” Konta said. “I was sore through my thoracic spine.”
Konta, who was checked for concussion after the fall, said after a practice session on Sunday that her spine felt “much better”. She added: “It was definitely the right decision medically not to continue playing in Eastbourne, to give my body that chance to recover. It was a bit of a traumatic fall.”
Konta said she had never thought she might not be able to play here and did not think the injury had harmed her preparations.
“I'm definitely recovering really well,” she said. “I'm taking it a day at a time. I practised today. I felt good. I'm definitely looking forward to playing my first round. Like Andy, I'd like to think that I'm fit enough to play seven matches, but I'm going to be taking it one at a time.”
The first of what she hopes will be a number of challenges here over the next fortnight will be against Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh in Monday’s third match on Court One. Less than five weeks ago 31-year-old Hsieh shocked Konta in the first round of the French Open, bridging a gap of 101 places in the world rankings to beat the Briton in three sets.
Doubles champion here four years ago, Hsieh has had a good build-up to Wimbledon, winning six of her nine matches so far on grass.
“She definitely can play on this surface,” Konta said. “Actually, the first time I played her, I lost to her on the grass. I'm definitely going into the match knowing that she will be playing very comfortably on the surface. She will definitely look to make things difficult for me.
“I'd like to think that I'm better prepared. I'd like to think that I will be going into the match with a clear game plan and trying to execute that as best as I can.”
Konta said she had been pleased with her own Wimbledon preparations. As well as reaching the semi-finals in Eastbourne before having to withdraw, the world No 7 finished runner-up in Nottingham, losing in the final to Donna Vekic.
“I had three great matches in Eastbourne,” Konta said. “I had a very full-on Thursday, as did all the other players. I think everyone played two matches that day, so it was a long day for everyone. I got to play against two Grand Slam champions - the reigning French Open champion and someone who is also the No 1 player in the world.
“I felt that I was tested in very different ways by two completely different players. I was quite happy with how I was able to adapt between those two matches on the same day.
“Overall I'm coming into Wimbledon with some great time on the grass against some great players. That doesn't guarantee anything here results-wise, but I definitely have prepared the best I can.”
Konta insisted, as she always does, that she did not feel any extra weight of expectation on her shoulders . “My expectations continue to be my own, continue to be what I judge myself on, my own journey, my own focus,” she said. “In that sense not much has changed. I do try to keep myself around my own people, around the mentality that I want to be around.
“I know there's more attention and more interest in my performance, but that's also a good thing. It means we're talking more about women's tennis in this country. I guess it’s another great way of promoting our sport.”
Asked if she had ever asked Murray or Tim Henman about how they had coped with the weight of national expectations here, Konta said: “The occasion hasn't quite presented itself. We do live quite different schedules. The amount of times we actually cross paths is quite seldom.”
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