U2 CANNOT BE SERIOUS
Konta drops ice-maiden image and shrieks with delight after Bono & Co wish her luck against Williams today
SHE has reached her first Wimbledon semi-final before adoring crowds in total control of her emotions.
But Jo Konta was less cool away from the tennis court this week.
Mick Jagger tweeted his support to the British No.1 yesterday after she posed for a post-match picture on Tuesday with singer Ellie Goulding and Strictly Come Dancing judge Darcey Bussell.
Yet her most beautiful day came when the star-struck Konta received a best wishes message from her favourite band U2.
“There was a massively fan-girlie moment,” she beamed. “It was pretty intense at home. I may have shrieked and giggled and ran around in circles for a couple of minutes, but I played it pretty cool after.”
The 26-year-old agreed she showed more emotion than when Simona Halep’s forehand dropped into the net to end their epic quarter-final.
“Well, I think when U2 tweets you, you know that your life is pretty much made,” she laughed.
“I am seeing them in Dublin. My favourite song is Where The Streets Have No Name. It just feels like such an epic song. It is a very emotionally epic song.”
Konta’s mother gets so emotional she cannot even be near the action. “My mum doesn’t really watch,” said the world No.7. She gets very nervous so she is never in the stadium. She is always watching on TV or a screen somewhere. I don’t know about my dad. You will have to ask the people he is sitting next to. I think he is probably still trying to crack jokes. He is a champ.”
Konta was born in Australia to her Hungarian parents before moving to Europe aged 14 and once joked her three passports made her “the female equivalent of Jason Bourne”.
But she also earned a reputation earlier in her career for a dangerously brittle temperament.
In 2014, she started working with Spanish ‘mind guru’ Juan Coto, who reduced her on-court anxiety as she climbed the rankings. He committed suicide last November. “Juan was a tremendous influence on me,” she said. “That went beyond my tennis career. He was someone who approached his work with me in a very holistic manner. It was more about me as a human being than necessarily a tennis player.
“He did a tremendous job with me in working on my happiness as a person, as a human being, and dealing with life in general.
“In turn, he looked to help me enjoy something that I have loved since I was a little girl and to try to be the best at that.”
Now she works with Spanish life coach Elena Sosa. “Challenges continue to change so I need to continue to evolve to adapt to the new challenges that are coming my way,” she explained.
The No.6 seed, now dating LTA employee Jackson Wade, is a better player than when she lost her first Grand Slam semi-final against Angelique Kerber in Melbourne last year. “I have become that much more resilient and experienced between that semi-final and now,” she said.
In a good omen, Konta beat both Halep and Venus Williams on her way to winning her biggest title so far at the Miami Open in April.
She has a 3-2 winning record against the American legend – and is 14-8 against top-10 opponents.
“I don’t know what the key is,” she claimed. “There is no magic potion, I promise you. I do approach every single opponent the same.”