At the beginning of December, in what is usually a fairly quiet time of year for tennis, Johanna Konta, the former world No 4 announced her retirement from the sport. She is only 30 years old but has decided to call time on her career, citing not only a persistent knee issue that has hampered her court time over the last few months, but also not having the desire for the sport in the same way anymore.
‘I would love to still play on the biggest stages in the world and play at my best, so it’s not at all that I don’t want to do that… It’s just that I don’t have the energy anymore. It’s quite a nice place to leave it.’ When that is the attitude she has, you can’t really argue with her decision. Having the hunger to win at all costs is a huge part of being a top-level sportsperson, so as soon as that has gone, it must seem like the only decision is to call it quits.
Despite representing Great Britain, Konta was actually born in Sydney, Australia, to a Hungarian mother and father. It wasn’t until she was around 15 that her family settled in Eastbourne in England, and it was finally in May of 2012 that she officially became a British Citizen. When asked at the Australian Open in 2016 about changing her allegiances, she was quoted as saying she was ‘very pleased to be representing Great Britain…where I grew up essentially.’ Safe to say anyone who placed bets on her to represent Hungary or Australia would have been very disappointed.
Unlike many fellow female tennis players of her generation, she did not become a household name until much later on in her career. In the early years, she would rarely have the favourable betting odds if she came up against Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova or Caroline Wozniacki. In fact, for most people looking at sports betting odds for Konta’s matches, unless you were a fan of her, you’d probably not bet on her very often. However, this betting stance would change in the 2nd half of her career, where she began to make serious impressions at all the major tennis tournaments with her performances. Suddenly, everyone who looked for odds on tennis was beginning to bet on Konta making it to the later stages of the major slams.
As she hangs up her tennis racquet for the final time, let’s use this as an opportunity to look back on some of Konta’s most memorable and important tennis matches.
2012 US Open vs Timea Babos
Konta’s first appearance at a Grand Slam was in the 2012 edition of Wimbledon, at the age of just 21. Given her lack of experience and some unfavourable odds, it is no surprise that she lost to the American Christina McHale, though at least she took the game to a deciding set.
Instead, let’s look at her first win at a Grand Slam, which came a few months later at the US Open. Here she upset the betting odds hugely by beating Timea Babos, who was at the time over 150 places ahead of her in the rankings. It truly was a great way for Johanna to get her first slam win.
2015 Wuhan Open vs Simona Halep
It was here, following a victory over Halep, who was the top seed for the competition, that saw Konta finally become the British No 1, overtaking Heather Watson. Very few people ever get to experience such a feat, so is certainly a match that will live long in the memory.
2016 Australian Open vs Venus Williams and Zang Shuai
By 2016, Venus Williams was 36, and certainly no longer the force of nature that she was in her 20s and early 30s. However, she was still the 8th seed for the Australian Open and would have been the odds-on favourite to progress into the 2nd round in her match against Konta.
Despite being the underdog in the betting odds, Konta surprised everyone with a simple victory, which was done in straight sets.
It wasn’t the only memorable match of that tournament, as Konta made it all the way to the semi-finals, the first female British player to do so in 32 years. In the quarter-finals, she faced the Chinese player Zhang Shuai, for the chance to make it to her first grand slam semi-final. While many people would have cracked under the pressure, Konta looked at ease, winning 6-4, 6-1.
2017 Wimbledon vs Venus Williams
While it was a defeat in the semi-finals against her old foe Venus, Konta became the first British women since 1978 to make it to the last 4 at Wimbledon. She then reached no 4 in the world rankings, which was a career-high for her.
2017 Miami Open vs Caroline Wozniacki
We couldn’t exclude the high point of her career, winning the Miami Open. Along the way to the final, she defeated Halep and Venus once again, before beating Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 to lift the most prestigious trophy of her career.
