Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JO’S BEST CHANCE EVERT!
Wimbledon legend Chrissie says she has got the game to become the first British women’s winner since Virginia Wade 40 years ago
CHRIS EVERT has named Jo Konta as a potential Wimbledon winner – if the British No.1 can hold her nerve at her home Grand Slam.
The world No.7 yesterday declared she will be fit to start her challenge today after pulling out in Eastbourne following a heavy fall. And she revealed she will practise yoga and meditation to fight the stress of striving to become the first British women’s winner here since Virginia Wade in 1977. American legend Evert (right) lost in the semi-finals to Wade 40 years ago – and sees the current British No.1 as a possible successor... as long as she does not crack under the weight of history and expectation. “I would count her as a potential winner, absolutely,” said the triple Wimbledon winner, speaking on behalf of espn.co.uk. “She has to be dangerous. It all depends on her nerves. “I think she’s a good grass-court player. Her weapons are her serve and her forehand. “She’s very good at moving forward, coming into the net. She has a good volley. “There is no reason why she can’t be a top contender. It’s going to come down to her nerves, how she handles the pressure of playing in front of Brits. “The good news is she’s been in bigmatch situations and come through. She’s beaten some big names. She’s done well. She deserves to be listed. “I would love to see her be inspired out there on the grass in front of her people, playing her game the way she knows how to play. She knows how to play aggressive tennis. She knows how to play bold. She’s good with the first strike of the ball. She knows how to volley. Everything’s there. “All the parts are there. “It’s going to be up to her. It’s going to be in her head. How is she going to view this experience, negatively or positively? Boy, she’s just going to have to show us some guts, but she can do it, yes.” Last year’s Australian Open semi-finalist has had to worry about other parts of her anatomy after slipping on court last Thursday. With both British No.1s having fitness worries, the build-up to the third Grand Slam of the year has been more ER than SW19. “I fell on my back, then my head whipped back as well,” Konta recalled. “I was sore through my thoracic spine. “It was a bit of a traumatic fall but I’m recovering really well. “I practised today and 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.” Konta starts with a tricky opening match against world No.112 Su-wei Hsieh, the Taiwanese who beat her in the first round of Roland Garros. “I am trying to approach each
match in the same way whether it is at Wimbledon or Timbuktu,” Konta added. “I do practise mindfulness, yes. I started practising yoga again recently which is something that I am really enjoying. It is to do with breathing techniques and things like that. “It is about not getting stressed over things that are quite frankly out of your control. Things that you don’t really have a say in. “I know there’s more attention, and there’s more interest in my performance. But that’s a good thing. It means we’re talking more about women’s tennis in this country. I guess another great way of promoting our sport.” In her brief grass-court season, Konta reached the final in Nottingham and then beat two Grand Slam champions in one day (Jelena Ostapenko and Angelique Kerber) in Eastbourne. And the No.6 seed insisted she will bring that momentum to Wimbledon. “As of now, I feel good to play,” she insisted. “I’m looking forward to playing. I think I had great matches in the lead-up to here so I can’t complain too much.”