Konta loses her cool at ‘patronising’ question
After suffering a surprise defeat to Barbora Strycova, Johanna Konta was frustrated by a question she believed was “patronising”.
Johanna Konta was angered by a reporter’s “patronising” question following her Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Barbora Strycova.
World number 18 Konta slipped out in the last eight on Tuesday, going down 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Centre Court despite taking a 4-1 lead in the first set.
Strycova will now meet seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals, with the 11th seed having overcome Alison Riske.
Konta was the clear favourite against Strycova but appeared to lose her composure in the second set as the world number 54 cruised to a convincing victory and a first singles appearance in the last four of a major.
When a reporter suggested she could have performed better on key points, Konta replied: “Is that in your professional tennis opinion?
“I don’t think you need to pick on me, in a harsh way. I’m very open with [the media] and I say how I feel out there.
“If you don’t want to accept that answer or you don’t agree with it that’s fine, but I still believe in the tennis I play and still believe in the way I competed.”
Worth the wait… #Wimbledon | @BaraStrycova pic.twitter.com/MHTFBPUy3R
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2019
Asked if she wanted to win a grand slam in the future, Konta said: “Please don’t patronise me.
“In the way you’re asking your question, you are being quite disrespectful and you are patronising me.
“I’m a professional competitor who did her best today, and that’s all there is to that.”
However, Konta felt her performance in her French Open semi-final defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in June was of a higher quality.
“I thought I played better in my French semi-final,” she said.
“I thought the conditions were a lot trickier in terms of the conditions we played in. There was a lot more wind and things like that. I think that played a factor.
“Player-wise, they’re probably a little similar. I mean, slightly different court, as well, different surface. But no, actually I thought I played better there than in this match.”
