Tracy Austin: I still see Johanna Konta as a future Grand Slam champion

Shahida Jacobs
July 10, 2019

She may have come up short at Wimbledon again, but Johanna Konta has what it takes to win a Grand Slam title, according to Tracy Austin.

After beating former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former US Open winner Sloane Stephens en route to the quarter-finals at the All England Club, Konta started her last-eight clash against Barbora Strycova as the favourite.

And she opened up a 4-1 lead before collapsing to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 defeat to the unseeded Strycova.

It was the second Grand Slam in a row that the British No 1 was in with a chance of winning a major only to throw away an opportunity as she was beaten by the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova in the semi-final of the French Open.

Two time Grand Slam winner Austin, though, believes Konta has upped her game in recent years and she has all the tools to win a major.

“I still see Jo as a Grand Slam champion. She’s really matured this year and I love the variation she’s added to her game. She’s continuing to grow her game but she needs more,” Austin said.

“Strycova was just very, very tricky. She’s got different spins, she’s crafty, she comes to the net a lot, gets a lot of balls back in play.

“Under pressure, it’s helpful for Jo that she has more options to her game: different points and not always the same tempo. That’s been very beneficial to her game.”

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Johanna Konta