By sportswriter Michael Butterworth
WUHAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Britain's No. 1 tennis player Johanna Konta says she hopes to return to next year's WTA tour fitter and stronger after a disappointing 2018.
Speaking exclusively to Xinhua at the 2018 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open on Monday, Konta noted that she was hoping to replicate her form of 2017, when she rose as high as No. 4 in the world and reached the Wimbledon semifinals.
"I haven't done as well as I would have liked so far this year, but 2017 and 2016 were exceptionally strong," said Konta. "I think it's important to recognize that, and what I'm working towards is having more exceptionally strong years."
With the 2018 WTA tour drawing to a close, Konta also discussed her plans for off-season improvement. "I'm definitely going to be looking to get stronger on court and work on my stamina, to be able to play against the top girls who ask a lot of you. I think it's always a combination of getting a lot stronger, physically, mentally and tennis-wise."
Konta was speaking after losing to Australia's Ashleigh Barty in the first round of this year's Wuhan Open, and was magnanimous in defeat. "I lost to the better player today. I didn't do as well as I would have liked, especially against someone like Ashley who serves so well. She's a very tricky player to play; she's got some great shots and she's very hard to beat and I think she showed that."
Despite hosting a Grand Slam tournament and boasting a well-established tennis infrastructure, Britain has only produced one Grand Slam winner in the last 40 years. Konta feels that the relative scarcity of British tennis stars may in part be down to increased competition from other sports.
"In the UK, we're in competition with rugby, football, cycling, and a lot of other sports, and tennis is a lot tougher to play at home outside of the summer months, as the weather isn't necessarily kind to us, but it's also [down to] good fortune. A lot can happen to come in the way of someone achieving their full potential, and there's a lot of talented players who don't get the opportunity to come through."
