Oven sent as Konta serves up another winning recipe
● Briton books place in last eight to face Halep who can become world No.1 with victory
It is all about the muffins. Johanna Konta is not daring to think that she is the first woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Jo Durie in 1984. She will not allow herself to look beyond today’s match with Simona Halep. She rebuffs all questions about pressure. It is all about the muffins.
The world No.7 was planning to spend last night baking another batch of her now famous cakes. It is a new hobby now that she has her own place up the road in Putney (and so her own oven to play with) – and the muffins are proving a hit with her team. Today’s pre-match offering had already been planned.
“A chocolate chip and banana muffin,” she said, “though I’m getting a lot of pressure to make a banana nut muffin from a certain member of my team, but I’m holding strong.”
In order to keep her baking career going, Konta reached the last eight with a tense, at times nervy but ultimately impressive 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia, the talented world No.22 from France. It could have been a more emphatic win had it not been for the interjection of Hawk Eye (it invariably found in favour of Garcia) and the thumping serve of the Frenchwoman.
“It was a very close match,” Konta said, stating the blindingly obvious. “I don’t think there was much in that again today. I stayed mentally quite tough. I tried to really just knuckle down on every single point I could. She was serving very, very well, so it definitely wasn’t easy to be active in her service games. Again, I just kept on trying to get some momentum and some points under my belt.”
When it was over, the relief was palpable. She burst into tears and sank to her knees. Konta may have learned to keep a lid on her emotions during the match but she openly admits that she is an emotional woman – and once the match was won, she could open the valve and let the steam out.
Now she plays Halep, pictured, a former French Open finalist but a woman who has pressures of her own to deal with this week. With Angelique Kerber, the current world No.1, beaten by Garbine Muguruza, Halep now stands one match win away from taking over at the top of the world order. She has been in this position before and fluffed her chance; now she is trying to hold her nerve and make her way to the top.
“I’m not thinking about that because I was in that situation one more time,” Halep said. “So I feel that I have more experience and I hope I will not think that much during the match. I just want to go there and win it. I want to win more, not just one match. So I’m not thinking about that.”
Konta leads their rivalry 2-1: two wins on the main tour (both tight three-setters) and one loss in the Fed Cup earlier this year. That loss saw Konta leave the court in tears, the match suspended and Ilie Nastase, Romania’s captain, sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation for his abusive behaviour to Konta and Anne Keothavong, the GB captain. Banned from coming to Wimbledon by the All England Club as a result of those outbursts, at least today’s match ought to be quieter. It will be tense, nonetheless. It will come down to who can hold their nerve tighter – the woman who is desperate to reach her first semi-final in SW19 or the woman who is desperate to be the world No 1. No wonder Konta is only thinking about her muffins.
“I’m baking a chocolate chip and banana muffin, though I’m getting a lot of pressure to make a banana nut muffin from a certain member of my team, but I’m holding strong”
JOHANNA KONTA