Of the four British players in the women’s draw at the French Open, Johanna Konta is not only the best but the most impenetrable, which may be no coincidence.
When Konta, seeded 20th, goes on to court in the first round against the German Julia Görges – on either Monday or Tuesday – she will take with her not only one of the most reliable all-round games but a steel-trap mind that allows not a flicker of distraction.
Although she has had a remarkable rise through the rankings over the past 12 months, the British No1 refuses to be lured into either complacency or overconfidence. “I don’t necessarily feel like the hunter or the hunted,” she said after the draw on Friday. “I think it’s an even playing field. I will go out there and I’ll compete the best I can and we’ll see how it goes.”
Yet only last December, before she resumed her exciting journey, she told a group of us at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton: “It’s exciting because of more players knowing more of who I am. It’s more me being the hunted rather than the hunter. However I have no fear of that. I look forward to the challenge because my goals are all very much processed and my own.”
That is the power of the “process”. It allows this ever-improving player to exist in a bubble, where she feels most comfortable. If it works – and it has so far – she could well roar through her side of the draw as far as the semi-finals, where Serena Williams would probably be waiting.
Not that Konta would know that, she admits. “I like to know just who I play [first]. It doesn’t matter, because nothing’s for certain. I may get to that point, I may not. The same with her, she may not, so ...”
But she does know where she is in the locker room: No11, somewhere between Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova. “I chose locker 11 because that was my highest junior ranking, so I thought I’d be sentimental.”
So, did she feel she belonged at last, after years of, well, hunting? “I don’t really try to belong anywhere. I’m a part of the women’s tour and there are a lot of us. In the same way, it’s quite a small world, so I just try to do my best in this discipline.”
While she tries to strip every verbal exchange of elements that might intrude on her “process”, Konta’s natural warmth is palpable. And her game is in great shape.
Heather Watson is also a cheery presence, although her task looks tougher: against her new doubles partner, the American Nicole Gibbs. “She’s more of a counter-puncher,” Watson said. “She’s a good mover. She’s not going to blow me away with big shots. But it should be interesting.”
Her priority, though, remains the Olympics. A win over Gibbs would pretty much guarantee her a place, and she couldn’t be more excited.
“It’s everything that comes with it,” she said, “meeting the other British athletes, the foreign athletes, the village, being part of the biggest sporting event in the world, competing for your country, getting lots of cool kit, trading badges, meeting new people. It’s getting so close, it’s stressful. I still feel I need to win at least one round here, definitely. It is a big motivation for me. I’m not sleeping that great but I think that is because of my hay fever. I’m getting an itchy throat and a blocked nose. And my curtains aren’t that great, and it’s so bright in the morning”
It could be curtains for Laura Robson in the first round on Sunday if she does not quickly get on top of the 28th seed, Andrea Petkovic, but she is in relaxed mood as her comeback gathers pace. The former British No1 says her injured wrists no longer give her pain, and she is desperate to start winning again.
Naomi Broady, meanwhile, has played some excellent tennis this year, and she will need to produce plenty of it to get past the American, Coco Vandeweghe on Monday.
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