“Going to Listen to My Body, My Heart and Soul” – Johanna Konta Opens up on Retirement

World Number 14 Johanna Konta grabbed a handful of wins in the disrupted tennis season of 2020 including a Slam victory against her compatriot Heather Watson at the US Open. This year, she failed to reach a WTA final for the first time since the tennis season 2015.

In May 2021, British player Konta will be celebrating her 30th birthday and in consideration of that, she pondered upon her retirement from the sport.

In the near future, hanging up the racquet is not part of her plan and she doesn’t really have a finite response regarding her retirement from the WTA Tour.

“That’s the first time anyone has ever put that into conversation that I am turning 30 next year. Wow, I am turning 30,” she said. “I know it’s a big day. In terms of longevity, I definitely motivated, inspired, and excited to play. I am 100% not looking to stop in the next couple of years for sure.”

“However I am open also to what life throws at you. You never know what the future holds, how things develop. I am training now into next season, I am looking forward to competing and see myself definitely playing another season after that.”

Further speaking about her retirement, she emphasized the matter of starting a family and did not really give an accurate response to her retirement date.

“Then I am going to listen to my body, listen to my heart and soul, see where I am in my life. I would like to have children so obviously that will be a considering factor in how long I play, how I do things. But yeah, let’s look forward to 2021 and then hopefully 2022, and then let’s see where we are!” She added.

Johanna Konta concludes 2020 with one Major victory

This year, Johanna Konta suffered knee issues and hopefully, she has been treating it effectively. Also, during her match in Lexington, Kentucky, she suffered from heart palpitations. However, she claims that she has cured everything and is ‘out of danger.’

This year, she lost to Ons Jabeur at the Australian Open‘s opening, and at the French Open, she was one of the biggest upsets on the opening day, owing to her loss against teenage phenom Coco Gauff. At US Open, she lost her second-round match against Sorana Cirstea.

Also, in 2020, she parted ways with coach Dimitri Zavialoff and signed her league with coach Thomas Hogstedt. Swedish coach Hogstedt has previously worked with Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Li Na, and Caroline Wozniacki.