Johanna Konta facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Johanna Konta

Konta at the 2019 French Open
Country (sports)	Great Britain (2012–2021)  Australia (2008–12)
Residence	Eastbourne, England, UK
Born	(1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 (age 34) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	2008
Retired	1 December 2021
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Esteban Carril (2014–2016) José Manuel García (2015–2016) Wim Fissette (2016–2017) Michael Joyce (2017–2018) Dimitri Zavialoff (2018–2020) Thomas Högstedt (2020–2021)
Prize money	US$10,008,175
Singles
Career record	395–243 (61.91%)
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 4 (17 July 2017)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (2016)
French Open	SF (2019)
Wimbledon	SF (2017)
US Open	QF (2019)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (2016)
Doubles
Career record	80–80 (50%)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 88 (1 August 2016)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2016)
French Open	1R (2016, 2018)
Wimbledon	3R (2016)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2016)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	2R (2018)
Wimbledon	2R (2013, 2014, 2015)
Other mixed doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2016)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	20–10

Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a former professional tennis player. She was born in Sydney, Australia, to parents from Hungary. When she was 14, she moved to England.

Johanna has citizenship in Hungary, Australia, and Great Britain. In May 2012, she became a British citizen. After this, she started playing tennis for Great Britain.

Konta became very good at tennis quickly between 2015 and 2016. Her ranking went from 150th to the top 10 in the world. She was the first British woman to be in the top 10 in over 30 years. During this time, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. She also made it to the quarterfinals at the Rio Summer Olympics. In 2016, she won her first major title in Stanford.

In 2017, she won the Miami Open. She also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. Johanna had another great year in 2019. She reached the semifinals at the French Open. She also made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Johanna Konta stopped playing professional tennis on 1 December 2021. She had a long-term injury in her right knee. This injury caused her ranking to drop.

About Johanna Konta

Johanna Konta was born in Sydney, Australia. Her parents, Gábor and Gabriella, were from Hungary. They met in Australia after moving there separately. Johanna's grandfather, Tamás Kertész, was a football player. He played for Hungary in the 1950s. He also coached the Ghana national team.

Johanna grew up in Collaroy, Australia. She started playing tennis at age eight. When she was 14, she went to a tennis academy in Barcelona, Spain. Her parents moved to Eastbourne, England, around that time.

In May 2012, Konta became a British citizen. She then decided to play for Great Britain. She has three passports: British, Australian, and Hungarian.

Konta lives in East Sussex, England. She married her boyfriend, Jackson Wade, on 11 December 2021. On 12 September 2022, she announced the birth of their daughter.

Tennis Career Highlights

Early Career and First Titles

Johanna Konta won her first professional tennis title in May 2008. This was a small tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2009, she won another title in Canada. She also reached a final in England.

In 2010, Konta won her first bigger title in North Carolina, USA. She also played in her first WTA Tour event in Denmark. Her ranking slowly improved during these years.

First Grand Slam Wins

Konta during her first-round match at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships

In 2012, Konta won her first match in a main WTA Tour event. This happened in Denmark. She also played at Wimbledon for the first time. Later that year, she qualified for the US Open. She won her first match at a Grand Slam tournament there. This helped her ranking go up.

In 2013, Konta won a bigger tournament in Vancouver, Canada. This was a $100,000 event. She beat a top-50 player during this tournament. Her ranking reached a new high of 115. By the end of 2013, she was the second-best British player.

Breaking into the Top 100

Konta at the 2014 Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer.

In 2014, Konta continued to improve. She reached the final qualifying round at the French Open. She also had a good win at the Eastbourne International. This win helped her enter the top 100 players in the world for the first time. She ended the year ranked 150.

Rise to the Top 50

Konta at the 2015 Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer

The year 2015 was a big turning point for Konta. She started playing much better. At the Eastbourne tournament, she beat a top-10 player. This was a major win for her.

At the US Open, she had an amazing run. She won three matches to get into the main draw. Then, she beat two top-20 players. She reached the fourth round, which was her best Grand Slam result at that time. Her winning streak was 16 matches in a row.

After the US Open, she played at the Wuhan Open in China. She beat the world No. 2 player, Simona Halep. This was a huge upset. She reached the quarterfinals of this big tournament. This success pushed her into the top 50 for the first time. She also became the top-ranked British female player.

First Grand Slam Semifinal and Top 10 Ranking

In 2016, Konta made her main draw debut at the Australian Open. She beat Venus Williams in the first round. She kept winning and reached the semifinals. This was the first time a British woman reached a Grand Slam singles semifinal in 32 years. After this, her ranking rose to world No. 28.

Later in 2016, Konta won her first WTA Tour title. This happened at the Stanford Classic in the USA. She beat Venus Williams in the final. The next week, she almost reached the top 10.

Konta at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships

At the Rio Olympics, she reached the quarterfinals in singles. She was the first British woman to be seeded at Wimbledon in over 30 years.

In October 2016, Konta reached the final of a big tournament in Beijing, China. This result helped her enter the top 10 in the world rankings. She was the first British woman to do this since 1984. She was named the WTA's Most Improved Player of the Year. She finished 2016 ranked No. 10.

Miami Open Champion and Wimbledon Semifinalist

In 2017, Konta started strong. She won her second WTA Tour title in Sydney, Australia. She did not lose a single set in the whole tournament. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals again.

In March 2017, Konta won the Miami Open. This was the biggest title of her career. She beat Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki to win. This win moved her ranking to a new high of world No. 7.

During a Fed Cup match against Romania, there was a difficult situation. The Romanian captain, Ilie Năstase, behaved badly towards Konta and her team captain. Play was stopped, and Konta was upset. However, she managed to win her match.

Konta struggled on clay courts in 2017. But on grass, she reached the final of the Nottingham Open. At Wimbledon, she had another great run. She reached the semifinals, becoming the first British woman to do so since 1978. She was beaten by Venus Williams. After Wimbledon, her ranking reached a new career-high of world No. 4.

She ended 2017 ranked No. 9.

Challenges and Comeback in 2018-2019

In 2018, Konta had a tough year. Her form dropped, and her ranking fell. She lost early in many tournaments. By July 2018, her ranking was 50, her lowest since 2015.

However, she had a big win at the San Jose tournament. She beat Serena Williams 6–1, 6–0. This was Serena's biggest loss ever. Konta ended 2018 ranked 39.

In 2019, Konta started to play much better. She helped the British Fed Cup team get promoted to a higher group. This was the first time the British team played at home in 26 years.

She reached her first clay-court final at the Morocco Open. Then, at the Italian Open, she reached another final. These results helped her get a good seeding for the French Open.

At the French Open, Konta finally won a main-draw match. She went all the way to the semifinals. This was the first time a British woman reached the French Open semifinals since 1983. She returned to the top 20 after this.

She also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019. She finished the year ranked No. 12.

Final Years and Retirement

In 2020, Konta had mixed results. She reached the semifinals at the Monterrey Open and the Western & Southern Open. The tennis tour was paused for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She ended 2020 ranked No. 14.

In 2021, Konta continued to struggle with injuries. She had to retire from her first match at the Australian Open. She lost early in many tournaments.

However, she won her first title in four years at the Nottingham Open on grass. She beat Zhang Shuai in the final. She had to withdraw from Wimbledon because a team member tested positive for COVID-19.

Her right knee injury became a big problem. Her ranking dropped significantly. On 1 December 2021, Johanna Konta announced her retirement from professional tennis.

Playing Style

Johanna Konta was known as an aggressive baseliner. This means she liked to hit the ball hard and flat from the back of the court. She was good at hitting shots with sharp angles. She could hit winners from almost anywhere on the court.

She was very good at serving. In 2016, she was fourth in the number of aces (serves that opponents can't touch). She won most of her service points.

Konta preferred to stay at the baseline rather than come to the net. Later in her career, she tried to add more variety to her game. She used more drop shots and tried to come to the net more often. Her favorite surface was grass, but she had most of her success on hard courts.

Sponsors

Konta had several sponsors during her career. She wore Asics clothing until 2019, then switched to Ellesse. Her tennis racquets were from Babolat. She also worked with Nature Valley cereal bars and the British accessories brand Radley.

Coaching Journey

Konta trained at different academies when she was younger. She worked with various coaches throughout her career.

In 2014, she started working with Spanish coach Esteban Carril. She also had a mental coach, Juan Coto. He helped her with the mental side of the game. Sadly, Coto passed away in 2016.

Konta changed coaches several times. She worked with Wim Fissette in 2017, Michael Joyce in 2018, and then Dimitri Zavialoff from late 2018. She hired Zavialoff permanently after a successful trial.

Career Statistics

Grand Slam Performance

Singles

Doubles

See also

In Spanish: Johanna Konta para niños