British No.1 Johanna Konta has played down the significance of her lacklustre start to the season as she is set to drop to her lowest ranking position for almost two years.
On Monday Konta crashed out in three sets to Venus Williams at the Miami Open. Ending her bid to win the tournament for the second consecutive time. After winning the opening set, the world No.14 could only win three out of the following 15 games as she struggled with a back problem. An issue she does not class as an injury, but as a muscle spasm.
“I think it was more just a case of me playing with a little too much stress and therefore my body not dealing with and adapting well enough to the conditions.” Konta explained about the issue with her back.
The repercussions of her defeat to Williams is that the 26-year-old will exit the top 20 for the first time since June 2016. Heading into the clay swing of the tour, Konta has only won eight out of 15 matches played so far this year (not counting the Fed Cup). In total she has only managed to reach the quarter-finals in one out of seven tournaments.
Alarm bells might be ringing for the camp of the British player, which is headed by former Sharapova coach Michael Joyce. Nevertheless, Konta believes that there is no need to panic. Arguing that she is facing challenges on the court different to those of past years.
“I think I’m coming into this year in a different position than I started last season. Last season when I started, I had played till the very end. I was still involved in Zhuhai where I lost in the semis. There was very little time in between.” She explained.
“So I definitely think I started this year with a different challenge, and compared to where I started, I actually feel very positive with my improvement and with the level I feel I’m producing more and more.”
“I don’t necessarily feel it’s fair for me to compare to last year, because I think the challenges are slightly different.” She added.
The next challenge for Konta will be the clay. A surface that has been an achilles heel for her throughout her career. Last season she only managed to win two out of six WTA matches played on the dirt. Furthermore, she is yet to win a main draw match at the French Open after suffering three consecutive first round defeats. Not that that deters her at all.
“I I’m excited to keep playing. I’m enjoying where I am and I feel there is a lot of room for me to get better, and that’s a good feeling to have.” She stated.
Konta will play in next week’s Charleston Open. A Premier level tournament held on green clay in Florida. She will be bidding to reach her first WTA final on the surface.
