JO’S CRY AND MIGHTY
WIMBLEDON 2017 British star is ready for revenge mission
JOHANNA KONTA is hoping for cheers not tears against Simona Halep today.
Tennis turned into the crying game for the sixth seed when she played in Great Britain’s Fed Cup defeat in Romania three months ago.
Konta broke down sobbing and needed a 20-minute break after being abused by Romania team captain Ilie Nastase and the home crowd, although she still managed to beat Sorana Cirstea.
The following day she was hammered 6-1 6-3 by a fired-up Halep.
Such a controversy gives an extra edge on Centre Court today as Konta bids to keep up her dream of becoming the first home winner since Virginia Wade 40 years ago.
But last night, following her impressive 7-6 4-6 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia of France, Konta refused to call the Halep showdown a grudge match.
Sympathy
“I’m playing against another tennis player, another opponent,” she said. “I’m not playing against a crowd. I’m not playing against a past experience.
“I’m looking forward to playing against Simona Halep, the top tennis player, who is playing well right now.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to play again against one of the best in the world and to really enjoy being in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.”
But Konta could not resist hitting back at Cirstea and Halep, who both claimed she had overreacted in Constanta.
“They were not in my shoes,” added Konta. “They were not being verbally threatened. I think it is very difficult for them to understand my position in it.”
Halep, who beat Victoria Azarenka 7-6 6-2, had little sympathy for her opponent yesterday. “In my opinion, the public [in Romania] was very fair,” she said.
“She knows how she felt there and I don’t want to comment any more about that episode.”
Despite her straight bat, Konta seems certain to use her Romania misery as extra motivation.
“I’ve dreamed of being a Grand Slam champion ever since I was a little girl,” she said.
“I’m playing against an incredibly tough opponent next. That’s my next battle.
“I think I have still got loads to improve on. Actually, I think that’s a very exciting thing for myself and for my team, that I definitely feel I have a lot more to maximise.”
Konta, though, looked in great shape yesterday as she overcame Garcia and became the first British woman to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for 33 years.
Jo Durie was the last Brit to progress as far at SW19, beating a 15-year-old Steffi Graf to get there in 1984.
Konta, 26, did not have it her own way against Garcia – a player once tipped by men’s champion Andy Murray to make it to the very top of the game.
In the build-up to the match, British No.1 Konta had highlighted Wimbledon great Billie Jean King’s famous quote “pressure is a privilege”.
And she was unflappable in the final set as both players traded games, with not even one deuce, before Konta went 5-4 up and Garcia finally cracked. Men’s singles 4th rd: (1) A MURRAY (GBR) (3) R Federer (Swi) (13) G Dimitrov (Bul) (16) G Muller (Lux) (4) R Nadal (Spa) (6) M Raonic (Can) (10) A Zverev (Ger) (7) M Cilic (Cro) (18) R Bautista Agut (Spa) (11) T Berdych (Cze) (8) D Thiem (Aut) (24) S Querrey (US) Women’s singles 4th rd: (14) G Muguruza (Spa) (1) A Kerber (Ger) (2) S Halep (Rom)
(13) J Ostapenko (Lat) (4) E Svitolina (Ukr)
(24) C Vandeweghe (US) (5) C Wozniacki (Den) (6) J KONTA (GBR) (21) C Garcia (Fra) (7) S Kuznetsova (Rus) (9) A Radwanska (Pol) (10) V Williams (US) (27) A Konjuh (Cro) Men’s doubles 3rd rd: (1) H Kontinen (Fin) & J Peers (Aus) (4) L Kubot (Pol) & M Melo (Brz) (14) F Mergea (Rom) & A-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak)
(16) O Marach (Aut) & M Pavic (Cro) Women’s doubles 3rd rd: (2) E Makarova (Rus) & E Vesnina (Rus) (15) A Klepac (Slo) & M Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa)
(3) Y-J Chan (Tpe) & M Hingis (Swi) (13) K Flipkens (Bel) & S Mirza (Ind)
(4) T Babos (Hun) & A Hlavackova (Cze)
(5) Lucie Hradecka (Cze) & Katerina Siniakova (Cze) (9) H-C Chan (Tpe) & M Niculescu (Rom)
(12) A-L Groenefeld (Ger) & K Peschke (Cze)
(7) J Goerges (Ger) & B Strycova (Cze) Mixed doubles 2nd rd: