Johanna Konta did not take kindly to her 34 unforced errors being raised as a topic of discussion after her disappointing 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 defeat to Barbora Strycova in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist took to task a journalist who wondered whether she felt she could have dealt better with some pivotal points.
“Is that in your professional tennis opinion?” snapped the British player.
She reacted defensively when it was put to her that it was not only his opinion but one also supported by the statistics.
“I don’t think you need to pick on me in a harsh way,” she said.
“I mean, I think I’m very open with you guys. I say how I feel out there. If you don’t want to accept that answer or you don’t agree with it, that’s fine.
“I still believe in the tennis that I play. I don’t have much else to say to your question.”
Konta got increasingly irked when the journalist persisted, saying she might need to avoid those errors if she wished to go on and win a Grand Slam.
“Please don’t patronise me,” she said.
“In the way you’re asking your question, you’re being quite disrespectful and you’re patronising me.
“I’m a professional competitor who did her best today, and that’s all there is to that.”
Konta has had to deal with worse than journalists’ questions.
“I think it’s familiar to everybody who has a social media account and who is in a sport which gets publicised,” she said.
“I definitely have had loads of experiences, loads of people wanting me to die and things like that.
“I don’t think that’s new to anyone. I have someone who kind of filters out and blocks and deletes the people.”
Konta, who had been hoping to become the first British woman to lift the Wimbledon trophy since Virginia Wade in 1977, departed on a defiant note.
“I’m no less of a person or a player if I don’t get past this point,” she said.
“I play this game with dignity, and I love the sport.”
