JOHANNA KONTA insists there is “no reason” she cannot win Wimbledon in the future – and promises the path ahead will be “exciting”.
British star Konta lost 6-4 6-2 to Venus Williams on Centre Court.
But Konta has vowed to recover from her straight-sets mauling and insisted she is not satisfied with making just the semi-finals in her home Major.
Konta said: “Quite honestly, I think I was in just as much of a shot of winning this tournament here.
“I think today it came down on the day, and Venus played better than me. That’s really all I can say.
“I think I definitely have a lot more to improve on. There’s a lot of exciting things that I can still get better at, which is exciting for me and exciting for my team, and my own development.
“I definitely feel like there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be in a position to win a title like this one day.
“I’m looking to keep getting better. I’m not, I guess, satisfied with where I am now. I do want to keep improving.
“I definitely do want to keep pushing myself to be the best that I can be.
“I need to take the good things that I did, but I’m also very aware of the things that I can do better. I’m more than anything looking forward to working on those.”
And Konta praised the brilliance of her opponent.
She added: “I think she did what she does well. She dictated the match from the very first ball till the very last one.
“I think she just showed her true qualities and why she’s a five-time champion here, just a true champion that she is.
“I don’t think I did too much wrong out there. I think it was all credit to her.”
Konta had played superbly to become the first British woman in a Wimbledon semi final since Virginia Wade in 1978.
She won’t have the chance to match Wade’s achievement of winning the title in 1977 because she could not find her best tennis when it mattered most.
Most read in sport
Williams’ victory makes her the oldest female Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at SW19 in 1994.
The American will become the oldest female champion since tennis went professional if she claims her sixth Wimbledon singles crown by beating Garbine Muguruza in the final.
It might have been different if Konta had taken the chance to break Williams and serve for the first set.
But after that the match ran away from her against an opponent showing that it’s not just Roger Federer who can turn back the clock to the glory years.
In a tight first set, neither player was quite as convincing on serve as they had been in their quarter finals yet opportunities to break were nonetheless hard to come by.
Konta had had a couple of looks at 15/30 before she finally fashioned two break points in the ninth game. But Williams saved them both convincingly, the second with a 106mph second serve.
Sure enough, in the next game Konta fell 0/40 behind with some wayward hitting and although she saved the first set point with a brave second serve, Williams converted the next.
The Brit had enjoyed some success in pulling the older woman around the court but seemed to lose her way a bit in the second set.
With the help of two netcords in one point and a double fault, Williams soon held three more break points in the fourth game.
Konta saved the first two but netted a forehand on the third and the mountain she had to climb became Everest-like.
Williams turned up the heat on her serve, hitting Konta with one which looked (and sounded) much faster than 103mph and later sending down a 115mph howitzer which Konta could only dolly up to be put away.
The Brit had been putting more than 90 per cent of her first serves in court during parts of her quarter final against Simona Halep, but she was below 70 per cent against Williams.
And unlike Konta, the American was doing a better job of going after the second serve.
Konta saved two match points, but a double fault brought up a third which Williams converted with a forehand pass.
And so Johanna’s hopes finally died after just 74 minutes.
Leave a comment