Johanna Konta: Injured and ill British number one to miss Charleston tournament
Johanna Konta will miss this week’s clay-court season opener in Charleston because of a shoulder injury and illness.
The 25-year-old has revealed she was battling both during her run to victory in last week’s Miami Open.
Now seventh in the world, she would have been the highest-ranking player competing in this week’s event.
“[Charleston] is a great tournament and I was really looking forward to taking part,” said Konta.
“I was battling a slight shoulder injury and sickness during Miami which has taken hold since the end of the tournament.”
Konta beat Denmark’s former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 on Sunday to become the first British woman to win the Miami Open.
It was her third WTA title and second of 2017.
Her withdrawal means American world number 11 Madison Keys is now the highest-ranked player for Charleston.
Australia’s Sam Stosur and American Venus Williams are also both taking part.
| Konta in 2017 |
|---|
| Konta began the year ranked 10th and has risen to a career-high seventh, earning £1,350,140 in prize money |
| She is now second behind Karolina Pliskova in the WTA Road to Singapore, which charts a player’s progress during the calendar year |
| Konta went into Miami at the top of the WTA standings for the percentage of service games won and service points won |
| She joins Elena Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova as the only players to have won two WTA titles in 2017 |
Analysis
Konta has risen from outside the world’s top 150 to inside the top 10 within two years.
Despite her withdrawal from the event in Charleston, she has been backed to continue her rise by two former British players – Jo Durie and Annabel Croft.
Jo Durie, former British number one:
It’s an interesting top 10 at the moment because if you look at Serena Williams, who’s not played for a while, Angelique Kerber at number one, who’s having her problems, Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep – they are struggling mentally.
But if you look at Jo, she’s very strong, she believes in herself, she copes with the things that go wrong and she has totally changed that within the past two years.
I think now she feels comfortable in that top-10 mix, looking for the top five.
I think Wimbledon will be very interesting, she can do well there. Clay is going to be tricky for her because it’s her least favourite surface. But at the moment I don’t think any of those top players want to play her.
Annabel Croft, former British number one:
I think what’s so impressive about Johanna Konta is two years ago she was ranked 147 in the world, and all of us know how she’s been putting in the hard yards on the practice court.
Off the court she worked with a mental coach [Juan Coto] who has sadly passed away – he laid some great foundations for a lot of the improvements she’s made mentally.
All the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle seem to be coming together and the calibre of the players she beat in Miami – Venus Williams, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki – make it an amazing, amazing achievement.