Konta: ‘Very clear, assert myself’

Even though the former No. 1 was aggressive at times, but the Brit Johanna Konta just crushed her in the third round today. Konta jumped on the ball immediately and pressed the action, while Caro didn’t understand how to react.

Konta has decided over the past year-and-a-half that she wants to go for it, win or lose. Now, she is ranked No. 9 and should be in the top 5 very soon. She is very dramatic and the 26-year-old has finally believed in herself on the biggest of stages.

How about Caro? Later, she said that Konta played very well. Guess what? She thinks her so-called best friend, Serena Williams, could lose against the Brit.

“She played well. I think if Johanna keeps playing like this, then she has good chances against Serena,”  Wozniacki said. “Obviously Serena is a champion, has won so many Grand Slams. She’s been in tough positions. But I think Johanna is playing on a very high level right now.”

Konta just won Sydney, beating Genie Bouchard and Aga Raswanska. Last year, she reached the final at Beijing and won Stanford over Venus Williams. A year ago here at the Australian Open, she reached the semis, upsetting Venus in the first round and survived Ekaterina Makarova 8-6 in the fourth round. Finally she lost to Angie Kerber in the semis.

Her coach, Wim Fissette, really helps her now.

“Having been already in certain pressure situations, certain things so recently, maybe I can relate back to those things within a match,” Konta said. “However, equally I need to keep myself present. I need to stay within the match that I am. Just because you win a few previously, it doesn’t mean that you’ll keep doing it. It’s not really relevant for the match at hand.”

Konta now knows what to do and she can pull it off. Watch out Ekaterina Makarova, her round of 16 opponent.

On Monday, they could play for hours and hours, smashing the ball.

“I was very clear, assert myself from the first point. I was prepared to lose some points playing that way, but I felt it was the right way,” Konta said. “It was going to give me opportunities at certain points. I’m very happy.”