US Open: Johanna Konta puts first round success down to becoming British

 
Christopher Jones29 August 2012

Johanna Konta speaks Hungarian was born in Australia and doesn’t know the National Anthem but believes becoming British has been crucial in taking her into the US Open second round.

Qualifier Konta, the world No203, defeated world No 59  Timea Babos, 6-2 7-5 and will now take on Olga Govortsova, of Belarus having become British in May. She arrived in London from Australia in 2005 and is adamant  she will learn the words to God Save The Queen very soon.

The  21-year-old who saved 10 set points in the ninth game of the second set,  said: “I am embarrassed to say I don't know the national anthem yet but, I promise I will learn it and you can quiz me next time about it.”

Konta, who trains at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, had to take the wide-ranging Home Office test to become British and tested out the questions on other young LTA players.

“There was a "Life in the UK" test,” she said. “I thought it was quite intense.  I was asking a bunch of the kids at the LTA in the players’ lounge  the questions and half of them didn't know the answers. .

 “I was very nervous going into the test because they don't tell you how much you got.  They only tell you if you pass or if you fail and qualifying was a long process. It was something that I wanted out of the way because I very much wanted GBR next to my name for a very long time. To finally have it was a pure weight off my shoulders.

“The LTA have been supporting me for a number of years and I guess there was always the uncertainty. No one believed that I was definitely getting it and not many people understood the situation. So it was just a good ending. The coaches I have around me are a great team for me to flourish with.  It's just paying off and I am definitely growing as a player. That's mainly to do with my mindset and the way I'm training and I have got a very good support system.

“I got to the UK in 2005 and when I originally arrived it wasn't straightaway “Okay, now I'm going to become British”. It gradually became a process after spending some time at the LTA.”

Anne Keothavong lost her first round match 6-2, 6-0 to sixth seed Angelique Kerber, of Germany.

Both Williams sisters won with Wimbledon and Olympic champion Serena defeating Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-1 while Venus, battling against autoimmune disease, beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-1 .

Venus said: “I am on a few medicines and I am definitely better than this time last year when  I didn't play any tournaments and I was at home watching on TV.  Just come full circle to be back out here, winning matches, moving forward ‑ and getting better.  That's good for me.”

Andy Murray, the No3 seed, takes on Ivan Dodig in the men’s second round  this evening wary of the Croatian’s style of play in what is their first meeting.  The Briton said: ”He (Dodig) won against Rafa [Nadal] in Canada last year. He’s a big guy who serves and volleys a lot, especially on his first serve, and you don’t see that much.

"He moves really well - on a hard court he can pretty much do the splits - and a tough guy to play against because he’s very unorthodox.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in