A look at Johanna Konta's remarkable career

Johanna Konta has decided to retire; therefore, this article pays tribute to her fantastic career.

Elizabeth Meade
17th December 2021
Image credit: Flickr
Johanna Konta, British tennis player and 2017's fourth best player in the world, has decided to retire at age 30.

Konta has reluctantly decided that she can not keep playing tennis at this level. However, she is not entirely unhappy about the decision. She said in an interview: “It’s just that … I don’t have the energy anymore. It’s quite a nice place to leave it. I finished playing the sport, still loving the sport. I don’t think there is much more that I can ask of myself”.

This is refreshing to hear when athletes, especially women, are often disillusioned by the world of sport after many years of playing.

One of the UK's best tennis players, Konta's achievements are diverse. She reached the semifinals at the 2016 Australian Open, 2019 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon, and has attended all of these Grand Slam events plus the US Open since 2012. She also represented the UK at the Summer Olympics in 2016, where she made it to the quarterfinals. Konta's biggest win in the WTA 1000 was the Miami Open in 2017, but she was a finalist at the 2016 China Open and 2019 Italian Open as well. Her other WTA 1000 achievements include making it to the semifinals at the 2020 Cincinnati Open, the quarterfinals at the 2015 and 2016 Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open, 2016 Miami and Canadian Opens and 2017 Cincinnati Open, and making it to at least the first round in most of these events from 2016 to 2021.

Twitter: @JohannaKonta

Though Konta did not break into the top 100 until she was 24 (in 2015), she has had a wonderful career in such a short time. “I’m probably the poster child of somebody who carved out a career for them when all evidence pointed that it was not going to happen,” she said in an interview. “I think if I can give any hope, motivation or inspiration to anyone who ever felt they were too old or not talented enough or overlooked, anything along those lines, I think I would feel very happy with that.”

Johanna Konta's post-tennis plans currently involve being an analyst on televised tennis programmes, such as BBC Five Live.

She has also started a dog-walking business and is engaged to Jackson Wade, a British film producer. Though she is no longer playing tennis, Konta will likely continue to maintain a level of happiness and financial success after her years of hard work.

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Meade
(she/her) 4th year Chem student. Former Head of Current Affairs and Former Science Sub-Editor. Avid reader. Chaos theorist. Amateur batrachologist and historian. Rock fan. Likes cybersecurity and cooking. Wrote the first article for Puzzles. Probably the first Courier writer to have work featured in one of Justin Whang's videos.

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