KONTA: TESTING IS VIOLATING
British No 1: They turn up and tell you to pull down your pants
JO KONTA insists she is feeling no pressure as she heads into Wimbledon, no weight of expectation after her remarkable run to the semifinals last year.
She says she is happy and excited, enjoying home comforts, and is only accountable to herself.
There is one thing, however, that has threatened to shatter the 27year-old’s seemingly impenetrable sense of calm — the ‘ violating’, ‘invasive’ drugs-testing procedure.
Invasive was the word used by Serena Williams’ camp after it emerged an anti- doping official turned up at her home at 8.30am on June 14 for what would have been her sixth test of the year. Most Americans have not been tested more than once.
Williams was not home so the tester insisted on waiting for her return but, after a stand-off, left without a sample.
Konta didn’t want to comment on Williams’ situation, but the British No 1 did speak publicly for the first time about missing a doping test in March, something she blames on a technicality in the system by which players update their whereabouts.
‘It was basically a mix-up of time zones more than anything,’ she said, explaining that the issue arose from the time difference between California, where she was competing, and London.
‘It was a bit of a tough one for me to swallow because it was a little bit out of my control. But since then, I’ve just been trying to be extra vigilant on changing it [her whereabouts] even more in advance to try to avoid those sorts of mistakes.’
Her issue is not with the drugtesting itself — she accepts it comes with the territory of professional sport — but in the process.
‘It’s important to have integrity in this sport, but I do feel there’s definitely room for improvement in the way athletes are treated.
‘It’s quite a violating process: people come to your home. You’re in your pyjamas. You get pulled out of bed, told to take down your pants, give your arm, pee in a cup. It is invasive. It’s not something I will miss when I retire.’
Konta is now on one strike after that missed test. The rules state that a player can have three in a year before a violation.
‘When that happened, I was super stressed,’ she said. ‘I definitely felt hard done by because I’ve always tried so hard to be really vigilant with it. It felt like I got called out on a technicality more than anything.’
As the questions about Wimbledon returned yesterday, so did the sense of calm. But Konta would not look beyond her first-round opponent, world No 106 Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia.
‘She’s a player with a big game,’ she said. ‘I know she has big shots. In terms of me, I think I’m getting better and better. I feel like I’m playing more consistently at the level that I want to improve from and keep playing. I’ll be working very hard to earn my way into the next round.’
Since Konta left SW19 last year having reached the semi- final, which she lost in straight sets to Venus Williams, it has been a year of many downs and only a few ups. She struggled so much in the latter part of last year, winning just two matches from six tournaments, that she didn’t qualify for the yearend finals in Singapore.
Her rankings have dropped sharply with her form. From being No 7 in the world this time last year, she has dropped to No 22, having only made one final from 13 tournaments this year. If she loses in the first round on Tuesday, she would drop to around No 50.
But she is refusing to let her spirits be dampened, or get weighed
down by the expectation that comes with being a British player at Wimbledon.
Asked if she felt more pressure after her results last year, she said: ‘No. I’m just looking forward to going out there, competing, doing the best that I can. At the end of the day I’m only accountable to myself. To make sure that I do myself justice in the effort that I put in. Then there’s still a whole second half of the season to play, which I’m also looking forward to.’
Pressed on what would count as doing herself justice, she replied: ‘Going out there, doing the best that I can. To me that means that I fight for every single point, that I’m clear on the way I want to play, I keep the attention on my side of the court. That’s what it means to me.’
Since crashing out in the first round of the French Open, and her subsequent outburst against the media, she has been boosted by the start of her grass-court campaign.
Indeed, her one final this year came a fortnight ago at the Nottingham Open, which she lost to Australia’s Ashleigh Barty. In the last couple of weeks she has played Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki, and despite losing to both, she believes she is improving.
She is expected to beat Vikhlyantseva on Tuesday. The second round would see her face either Alize Cornet or Dominika Cibulkova, while the first seed she could face is Elise Mertens in the third round.
The last few weeks has seen a timely upturn in fortunes for Britain’s main female hope.
Only time will tell if the hallowed courts of Wimbledon will provide such a source of joy for a second year in a row.