‘So What Are You?’ - BBC Under Fire Over Controversial Johanna Konta Interview - UBITENNIS
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‘So What Are You?’ – BBC Under Fire Over Controversial Johanna Konta Interview

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Johanna Konta (zimbio.com)

BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys has sparked criticism after questioning Johanna Konta’s status as a British athlete.

Konta was being interviewed on the Today Programme when Humphrys challenged the world No.4 about her nationality. Konta was born in Australia to Hungarian parents, but have lived in the UK since the age of 14. Discussing Konta’s background, the 73-year-old caused outrage when he asked her to explain ‘what she is.’

“We talk about you as being British but you were born in Hungary, Australian citizenship, and I seem to remember that the Australian High Commissioner when you won the quarter-final said ‘Great to see an Aussie win’ and we were saying ‘Great to see a Brit win’ – so what are you?” Humphrys said during the interview.

The timing of the question comes less than a week after Konta reach the semifinals at Wimbledon. Becoming the first British female to do so since Virginia Wade in 1978. During her Wimbledon campaign, Konta attracted a peak audience of over seven million on the BBC. Higher than the peak ratings for the men’s final between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic (6.5M).

Following her run at SW19, the 26-year-old has become the fourth British women in history to crack the top-five.

Responding to Humphrys, Konta replied with a measured and calm response. Insisting that she feels fully British.

“I was actually born in Australia to Hungarian parents but I’ve lived here for half my life now almost and I’m a British citizen and I’m incredibly proud to represent Great Britain…I’ve represented Britain in the Olympics so I’m definitely a British athlete.” Said the world No.4.

Konta has been living in the UK since 2005. Seven years later she became a British citizen in 2012 and said she ‘wanted GBR next to her name for a very long time’ during the US Open that year.

Humphrys has since been accused of xenophobia by users on social media. He is yet to respond to the criticism.

 

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Elena Rybakina beats Victoria Azarenka to reach her fourth final of the season at the Miami Open

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Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4 0-6 7-6 (7-2) in the semifinal of the Miami Open to reach her fourth final of the season. 

Rybakina has improved to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Azarenka and has a seasonal record of 22 wins to 3 defeats. 

Both players were not able to convert their early break points in the opening set. 

Azarenka saved four break points in the first game to hold serve after three deuces. Rybakina fended off two break points in the sixth game. 

Rybakina earned the first break of the match in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Azarenka earned a break point in the eighth game, but she was not able to convert it. Rybakina served out the first set with a hold at love. 

Azarenka broke three times to race through to a bagel win in the second set. The three-time Miami Open champion dropped just two points on serve in the second set. She made a double faul on one of these points. 

Rybakina stopped Azarenka’s seven-game streak by holding serve to draw level to 1-1 in the third set. Rybakina earned her fifth break point in the fifth game with a backhand pass, as Azarenka was serving at 2-2, and converted her chance to take a 3-2 lead, when Azarenka hit a backhand into the net. Rybakina consolidated the break by holding serve to take a 4-2 lead. Rybakina fended off a break point with her 10th ace, as she was serving for the match at 5-4, but Azarenka earned a second break point after a long baseline exchange. Azarenka converted her break point when Rybakina volleyed into the net. Rybakina earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2. 

Rybakina won two titles in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi and reached her first WTA 1000 final of the season in Doha on hard court. 

Last year the Kazakh player won in Indian Wells and was a win away from winning the Sunshine Double in the Miami Open final, where she lost to Petra Kvitova 7-6 (16-14) 6-2. 

Rybakina is just the third player in the last ten years to reach back to back Miami finals following Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Fabian Maroszan to reach the semifinal in Miami

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Alexander Zverev beat Fabian Maroszan 6-3 7-5 to reach his third semifinal of the 2024 season at the Miami Open. 

Zverev will face the winner of the quarter final match between this year’s Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz and 11 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Zverev reached the final at the Miami Open in 2018. 

Should Alcaraz beats Dimitrov, the Spanish player would meet Zverev for the second time this month. Alcaraz beat Zverev 6-3 6-1 in the quarter finals at Indian Wells. 

Zverev won 80% of his first serve points and saved the only two break points he faced. The German player committed just 10 unforced errors to Maroszan’s 23. 

Zverev converted his fourth break point in the third game of the first set and held serve at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. The 2021 German player saved a break point in the sixth game keepin a one-break lead. He closed out the first set 6-3 with a double break at 30.

Maroszan saved a break point in the second game of the second set to hold serve at love for 1-1. Zverev fended off a break point in the fifth game to hold serve after two deuces for 3-2. Both players held on serve until the 12th game. Zverev was leading 6-5 when Maroszan served to send the second set into the tie-break. The Hungarian player earned two game points, but he did not convert his chances. 

Zverev broke serve after two deuces on his first match point to seal the second set 7-5. 

“I love Miami. I always said that. I am happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world. I think there are only those left. I am looking forward to the challenge. If Maroszan keeps playing like that, he’s going to rise up the rankings very quickly. He always rushes you. I think when all players feel like they are in control, they feel like they manage the match and play the match a little bit in their own favour and against him, it’s not possible. That’s why he has such a great top 10 record of 4-2. He is an unbelievable player”, said Zverev. 

Maroszan was playing in his second quarter final at Masters 1000 level after reaching this stage in Shanghai in 2023. The Hungarian player has moved up 19 spots to a career-high of number 38 in the ATP Live Rankings. He will become the Hungarian player to reach the top 50 in the ATP Ranking. Earlier this tournament he claimed two top 10 wins over Holger Rune and Alex De Minaur. 

Zverev is aiming his sixth Masters 1000 title and his first trophy in the series since Cincinnati 2021. 

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Ekaterina Alexandrova upsets Jessica Pegula to reach the semifinal at the Miami Open

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World number 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova came back from one set down to upset Jessica Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 58 minutes reaching the semifinals at the Miami Open.

Alexandrova has drawn level to 1-1 in her head-to-head matches against Pegula. 

Alexandrova beat top 5 players In back-to-back matches for the first time in her career with her wins over world number 1 Iga Swiatek and Pegula. In her previous two rounds of the Miami Open she had defeated Donna Vekic and Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. 

Alexandrova also beat 2022 Elena Rybakina in Adelaide last January and has the most wins in 2024 against players ranked in the top 5. She has a record of 6 wins to 17 defeats against top 5 players in her career.   

Pegula won four consecutive games from 2-3 down with two breaks to seal the first set 6-3. Alexandrova fought back breaking serve in the first game of the second set. The Russian player went up a double break in the seventh game to open up a 5-2 lead. Pegula pulled one break back in the eighth game for 3-5. Alexandrova served out the second set at love to force the match to the decider. 

Alexandrova earned an early break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Pegula broke straight back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3, when Alexandrova double faulted on her fourth break point. Pegula held serve in the seventh game after a fantastic rally, but Alexandrova earned the decisive break, when Pegula went long with her backhand return on the second break point. Alexandrova held serve on her second match point and fell to her knees in joy.  

“It was extremely difficult for me because Pegula played amazing. In the third set, there were sometimes the kind of rallies where I could not understand how it was possible to return that ball, but it always came back. I just tried to play every single point like I knew she was going to be everywhere, so I need to do something and I was trying to wait and use any opportunities that I got”, said Alexandrova. 

Alexandrova set up a semifinal against Danielle Collins, the last remaining US player. It will be the first head-to-head match between Alexandrova and Collins.  

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