Johanna Konta's 'tunnel vision' has kept her cool under pressure at Wimbledon

Tunnel vision: Konta has come through three three-setters so far
EPA

It was at Eastbourne three years ago that Martina Hingis first saw Johanna Konta close up, the 1997 Wimbledon champion bemused as to the Briton’s position in the game.

Hingis asked her, “What are you doing ranked 150 or whatever?”, with the five-time Grand Slam singles champion believing Konta was too good to be languishing so low.

The Swiss questioned whether the British No1 had the mental strength to click on the most high-pressured of stages, at her home Grand Slam, which was understandable considering Konta had, before this year, won just one match in five previous attempts at Wimbledon. But it is Konta’s ability to stay cool on the showcourts which has been the most remarkable facet of her run to Thursday's semi-finals.

Three times she has been involved in epics: winning a final set in the second round 10-8 against the big-serving Donna Vekic, edging Caroline Garcia 6-4 in another three-setter in the last 16 before, most impressively of all, winning another three-set thriller on Centre Court against Simona Halep.

Throughout those encounters, she could have been forgiven for her game wavering and bowing out of the tournament but a remarkable tunnel vision has instead seen her earn Britain a first female semi-finalist here since Virginia Wade 39 years ago.

Wade, watching from the stands, was as impressed as anyone by her mental fortitude. “She had a tougher mind and she was more aggressive and she deserved to win,” said Wade after the 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 victory. “I now just hope she manages to cocoon herself a little bit.

“You have to protect yourself and put up a barrier so that you don’t let them impose themselves on what has been so good with her concentration and her game plan. It’s very well rehearsed and I’m ultra impressed. I haven’t seen a player with the same sort of dedication and determination for a long time.”

Konta has put up a psychological barrier to the extent that it is not easy to tap into the real person in interviews.

In conversation, she repeatedly talks about “the process” but, at times, it has sounded like something coming straight out of the pages of a self-help book.

Johanna Konta's Wimbledon 2017 - In pictures

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Whatever the approach, it cannot be questioned with the success she has had in recent seasons.

Much of the credit for that she gives to Juan Coto, the mind coach who killed himself last year and whom Konta has said is still with her in her mental approach to matches.

Speaking after yesterday’s win, she said of Coto: “Juan was a tremendous influence on me. That went beyond my tennis career. He was someone who approached his work with me in a very holistic manner — it was more about me as a human being than necessarily a tennis player. He did a tremendous job with me in working on my happiness as a person, as a human being, as dealing with life in general.”

Coto taught her that everything she did on court was “her work” and that she had to “bear the consequences of everything that I do, the wins and the losses”.

While some players may not have taken to that approach, the switch changed Konta’s life on and off court.

Her approach to the semi-final against Williams will be the same as whether she was lining up in the first round of a Challenger event — about the level she was at the time Hingis crossed paths with her — or on the biggest stage.

Another mantra of Konta’s is “to be the best I can be”, so she shuns targets of winning Grand Slams or getting to No1 in the world, at least publicly. Instead, her goal is “to try actually every day to be better”.

At Wimbledon alone, that has been the case. Even 0-30 down, she has stuck to the aggressive game plan, the little skip between each point giving her the necessary lift she needs.

In some ways, this is uncharted territory for her, in other ways not having experienced a Grand Slam semi-final at last year’s Australian Open, only to be blown off court by Angelique Kerber.

When asked to look back on that yesterday, the response succinctly summed up the Konta mentality, shunning that match for the bigger picture. “I know this will be my second Slam semi-final but I do think nerves and excitement and those sorts of emotions that come along with big matches aren’t necessarily specific to Grand Slam moments,” said Konta.

“I’ve been a part of some great moments and exciting moments in other events as well.

“I’d like to think I’ll be using all that experience come Thursday.”

But for all the words, a Wimbledon semi-final is different, the expectation and pressure higher than ever.

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