Konta swinging freely towards title, says coach
LONDON: Britain’s Wimbledon title hope Johanna Konta is often parodied for her mantra of “sticking to the process” but, far from being a tennis robot, coach Wim Fissette says when his player goes out on court she can think on her feet.
Konta is four wins away from becoming the first British player to win the Wimbledon women’s title since Virginia Wade in 1977. Just to ramp up the pressure she will also enter the second week wearing the favourites’ tag.
Belgian Fissette, however, says Konta’s ability to play with intuition and not hit the panic button when things go wrong gives her a great chance of winning a first major.
“I give her lots of messages the day before a match and she goes over them with me again before she goes on court, just to make sure it’s all clear,” Fissette, who has worked with Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka, told Reuters.
“But I don’t give her too much information. I’ve had players who are extremely rational and open for statistics.
“Johanna goes more on the feeling. I provide tactics and key points about the match but she follows her intuition a lot and plays freely, which is good because it’s only her on court.
“I remember Kim (Clijsters) was very much a player like that. She didn’t do better with more info. Actually the more free she was to make decisions the better she did,” he added of the former world number one and four-time grand slam winner.
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