Johanna Konta can vanquish self-doubt and win US Open, says coach

Johanna Konta’s complex character has been both a hindrance and a help in her career but her equally cerebral coach, Dmitri Zavialoff, is convinced that despite her self-doubt – and even banning negative words in training – she is good enough to win the 2019 US Open.

“She is a much better player than she thinks,” the softly spoken Frenchman said as they prepared for Konta’s quarter-final on Tuesday against the fifth seed, Elina Svitolina.

Konta is the last British player left in either singles draw, one win away from completing a full set of semi-finals in all four majors to become the first British player since Jo Durie 36 years ago to go this deep here. That is a lot of pressure and, although she is reluctant to take on the baggage of fulfilling everyone’s expectations, she is playing some of her best tennis here. Nevertheless, niggling concerns remain.

What Zavialoff has seen in Konta since they began working together last October is “a powerful player who can play really fast. Now the question is when to play fast and sometimes to try to slow down a little bit”.

He added: “It comes down to a lot of practice. It seems very obvious from the outside but, once you are on court, adapting to the ball is much more difficult. I think she is doing well at the moment. We will see for how long.”

Against the world No 3, Karolina Pliskova, on Sunday she tightened up after stretches of dominance against an opponent who had beaten her six times out of seven and she tended to rush the point, which resulted in her blowing the first set. Instead of winning quickly, which looked on the cards, she had to eke out a demanding 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-5 win in two hours and 20 minutes.

“I’m happy to stay out there for a long time,” Konta said. “There’s a lot of very tough, long battles that a lot of players are having.”

Konta, who had three coaches in two and a half years before Zavialoff, is happy with a mentor who once coached the similarly introspective Stan Wawrinka. They are well suited: thoughtful, intelligent and private.

“He’s given me space to just be exactly who I am, who I want to be on court,” she said “He’s encouraged my self-development in my own way. He’s very nurturing in that way.”

Her previous coach, the American Michael Joyce, who once worked with Maria Sharapova, says Konta is the most superstitious player he has met on the Tour, referring, probably, to her intensity and the ongoing struggle she has with avoiding negativity.

And Zavialoff confirmed the rumour that certain words are banned in their training sessions.

“Terminology is a good thing. Sometimes we hear of war terminology in sport, and I don’t think it’s a war. It’s still a game. So, instead of ’fight’ [we say] ’play’. All those things. Slowly the player realises he or she doesn’t need to fight to get [the win]. It’s just a tennis match. It’s not the end of life, not a war.”

If the British No 1 is sometimes guilty of over-thinking, Zavialoff is there to remind her quietly of the basics and to encourage her to enjoy her tennis. For Zavialoff this is the key to her rise from outside the top 40 when they met to No 16 in the world, with quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon to bolster her self-belief.

If she beats Svitolina, who looked good against Madison Keys in two sets on Sunday, her path to the prize will almost certainly require her to beat Serena Williams, who twisted her right ankle when falling in the second set against Petra Martic.

The six-times champion said the recurrence of weakness in that ankle was worrying but she expected to be fit to play China’s Qiang Wang. If she is not, if the world No 18 springs the upset, Konta’s chances of reaching her first major final would improve – as long as she beats Svitolina.

If she does so, the expectation will grow that she can become the first British woman to win the US Open since Virginia Wade in 1968.

A final word on Novak Djokovic, who was booed off court after retiring when two sets and 2-1 down against Wawrinka on Sunday night: no player should have to endure that sort of boorish behaviour. Wawrinka deserved his win but the beaten man, struggling with a lingering shoulder injury that will require further rest, deserved better than that.

The overly generous world No 1 said: “I’m sorry for the crowd. They came to see a full match and it just wasn’t to be. That’s all it is. A lot of people didn’t know what was happening, so you cannot blame them. It is what it is.”

source: theguardian.com