Johanna Konta's coach tips Brit to fight for world No1 spot regardless of Wimbledon run

Personal best: Konta has never before reached the second week at Wimbledon
REUTERS

Wim Fissette is no stranger to working with world No1s and sees no reason why Johanna Konta cannot join that throng.

The Belgian coach of the British No1 believes that Konta has yet to realise her full potential, immaterial of how long her run at Wimbledon extends.

Fissette, the former coach of Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, also believes “anything is possible” with the burgeoning relationship between the pair.

“I feel we can get so much better,” said Fissette of Konta, who was taking on Caroline Garcia in the first match on No1 Court on Monday.

“She always believes she can beat anyone in the draw, immaterial of who that is. That’s one of her strengths.”

Fissette has an impressive coaching CV, having guided Clijsters to two US Open victories as well as the Australian Open title and the end-of-year WTA Tour Championships. He also guided Sabine Lisicki to the 2013 Wimbledon final and Simona Halep to the same stage of the French Open the following year.

It was while in charge of Azarenka that he first laid eyes on Konta, during a match in Wuhan in 2015 in which the Belarusian was forced to pull out from injured in the second set.

“It was a short match but I remember being really impressed at that point,” he recalled of that encounter. “She came out onto court with this attitude of ‘I’m here to win’ and she seemed very confident.”

Wimbledon 2017 - In pictures

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Prior to this year’s Wimbledon, Konta had won just one match at her home Grand Slam in five attempts but her confidence has grown markedly for any future return to SW19.

Of Konta’s potential at Wimbledon, Fissette said: “Anything is possible. She speaks about the process and every week she just gets better and better.

“Where’s it going to end? We don’t know. But it’s exciting and fun and she’s already had some great experiences this year.

“There has been the Australian Open [Konta reached the quarter-finals], Miami [she beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final], Wimbledon — some big moments on court.

“Right now in the women’s game, there are lots of players who can win titles and Johanna is one of them.”

Clijsters has paid tribute in the past week to Fissette’s cool approach in her climb to the top, although, behind his sunglasses, he admitted to being far from cool during Konta’s nailbiting second-round encounter against Donna Vekic.

“I wasn’t feeling cool at all,” he said laughing. “But it was important to show she was doing the right things.

“She handled that match really well, it was incredibly impressive, in fact beautiful to watch.

“She was love-30 down on her serve, there was a break point. She has worked heavily with a mental coach and that showed.

“Hard court is still her natural game but she has got better on grass in the last week. She had no second week experience of Wimbledon before now, so it’s interesting to see how she deals with it.

Master and pupil: Johanna Konta is bidding to reach the quarter-finals under the watchful eye of coach Wim Fissette
Getty Images

“She has been looking good but she still has a lot to learn and we can get so much better.”

Konta has already won three WTA Tour titles but, as something of a late bloomer in the game, the 26-year-old remains a work in progress.

Fissette believes the same is true of himself. He said: “I’ve been lucky to go long in some big tournaments and I’ve developed my style over the years.

“It’s my job to analyse opponents, come up with a plan and give Johanna the best preparation for a match, whether at Wimbledon or any other tournament.”

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