The former world No 4 made the most of her talents and helped to pave the way for Emma Raducanu and hopefully othersAs the 2015 tennis season began six years ago, Johanna Konta’s name was nowhere to be seen on any main-draw sheet. Six months earlier she had briefly reached the top 100 for the first time in her career but, as had been the case throughout her career in those days, she always ended up dropping back down the rankings and having to grind through the ITF Pro Circuit and qualifying events once more. Konta quietly lost in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open.Even as she struggled mentally and failed to achieve her lofty goals, Konta always...
Medvedev is waiting in the wings, but it’s still all to play for between Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, while a new challenger has shown the mentality Serena Williams needs to rediscoverNovak Djokovic arrived in New York with a shoulder injury, then Roger Federer suffered a stiff neck against Grigor Dimitrov. No matter. Rafael Nadal was there to represent the big three and to take his 19th grand slam title, putting him one behind Federer. So much is on the line in these last years of their careers and each final seems to be laced with more historical significance than before. Had Nadal finished off Federer in the 2017 Australian Open final, he would already be the leader. Had Federer won...
Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and others seem set to ensure when the winner of 23 grand slams rejoins the WTA Tour it will be anything but dullWhen Serena Williams returns to tennis as expected in the new year, with a baby daughter, Alexis, in her entourage and a spring in her 36-year-old step, the remarkable American will find the game in a state of pleasing but predictable flux.There is still plenty to play for, not least the prospect of her surpassing Margaret Court as the most decorated player in the history of her sport – men’s or women’s, as Andy Murray might remind us – and, if Melbourne comes too soon for Williams to pull alongside the Australian’s tally of...
Will Johanna Konta recover from her Wimbledon loss? Can Simona Halep thrive under pressure? And how will the returning Maria Sharapova leave her mark?Karolina Pliskova: Last year’s beaten finalist probably had different visions of how she would become the new world No1. She was on holiday in Monaco when it happened and only found out about her new status after checking to see if Simona Halep had won her Wimbledon quarter-final against Johanna Konta. Halep’s defeat confirmed Pliskova’s ascent – five days after losing in the second round at SW19. The circumstances weren’t ideal, feeding the theory that Pliskova is merely a lucky beneficiary of Serena Williams’s absence, but despite lukewarm recent form, the big-serving 25-year-old has a good chance...
History tends to forget that Britain’s last victor in the Wimbledon women’s tournament lost her first two semi-finalsFirst you have to suffer. The unspoken rule for any British hopeful striving to scratch the nation’s itch at Wimbledon is that the journey is never complete until they have dragged themselves off a deflated Centre Court at the end of their semi-final debut with sympathetic applause ringing in their ears, their bottom lip quivering and that lump in their throat threatening to spill on to the grass, guilty only of daring to think it would be different this time. Related: Venus Williams into Wimbledon final with smooth defeat of Johanna Konta Related: Johanna Konta: quiet Sydney schoolgirl always had focus of a...