Johanna Konta’s tremendous Wimbledon run has earned her legions of fans, including a select group of ageing rock stars.
After her semi-final exit to five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, the music-loving British No 1 player can now to devote more time to going to gigs - and the 26-year-old is not short of invitations.
Singer Sir Van Morrison, famed for hits such as Brown-Eyed Girl, sought to ease the pain of Konta’s defeat by inviting her to one of his concerts.
He wrote on Twitter: “Jo, you did great. We’re so proud of you and I’d like you to come as my guest to one of my gigs, Van”.
Konta, who has attributed her love of “Van the Man” to her parents, was swift to take him up on his offer. She tweeted: “Thank you so much! I would love you to!”. He had earlier tweeted: “I’ll be watching #Wimbledon Good Luck!”
Konta , who says in her Twitter biography that she would “love to go to concerts most nights”, has also had support from U2, and indicated she will be attending one of their concerts in the very near future.
Her tournament success had prevented her from attending their recent Twickenham concert. The band tweeted: “We’d love to see you in Twickenham on Middle Sunday but heard you’re busy …..congratulations & good luck”.
She replied: “ That’s Okay. I’ll be seeing you guys a couple of weeks later”.
The player once said her perfect day would be watching Bono and eating gelato, and that she would be willing to mortgage her house in order to see the Irish band.
For the hat-trick, the Rolling Stones could step forward. Sir Mick Jagger has been an enthusiastic fan, tweeting earlier in the tournament: “Great to see Johanna Konta make the semi-final at Wimbledon, first woman in 39 years. I never quite made it to a Grand Slam.”
He also posted a picture of himself demonstrating his forehand.
Sam Smith, the former British number one tennis player, said of Konta: “If she wasn’t a tennis player she would probably be at the big summer festivals. She loves all that. She’s funny because she’s quite a contained, shy introverted person off-court, but actually there’s a performer in there.”
Smith, who is now a commentator, added: “She said if she wasn’t playing tennis she could see herself up there with Coldplay on a big stage in front of 50,000 fans. I think that tells you a little bit about Jo, why she’s so happy on the big courts.”
With the men’s semi-finals due to take place today, favourite Roger Federer will continue his bid to lift the Wimbledon trophy once more when takes on Tomas Berdych on Centre Court following the Sam Querrey and Marin Čilić match.
Britons Jamie Murray and Heather Watson will play with their partners in the mixed doubles semi-finals.
Watson and Henri Kontinen, her Finnish partner, will continue their defence of the title, playing Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina on Court One.
Elsewhere, Murray and Swiss player Martina Hingis will take on Marcelo Demoliner Maria and Jose Martínez Sánchez.
