Johanna Konta retires from tennis as ex-British No 1 says she’s ‘grateful’ for her career

Johanna Konta has announced her shock decision to retire from tennis at the age of 30.

The former British No 1 and world No 4 announced her decision on Wednesday morning.

Konta reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2017 – becoming the first British woman to so in 39 years.

She also reached the final four at the 2016 Australian Open and 2019 French Open. At the US Open her best achievement was a quarter-final appearance in 2019.

Konta revealed her sudden move on social media, stating she was ‘grateful’ for her career.

Johanna Konta’s statement in full

‘Grateful. This is the word that I’ve probably been used to the most during my career, and is the word that I feel explains it best at the end.

‘My playing career has come to an end, and I am so incredibly grateful for the career that it turned out to be.

‘All the evidence pointed towards me not “making” it in this profession. However, my luck materialised in the people that came into my life and impacted my existence in ways that transcended tennis.

‘I am so incredibly grateful for these people. You know who you are.

‘Through my own resilience and through the guidance of others, I got to live my dreams. I got to become what I wanted and said as a child.

‘How incredibly fortunate I count myself to be. How grateful I am.’

Konta’s career

Born to Hungarian parents in Australia before moving to the UK aged 14, Konta switched allegiance in 2012 and went on to become the most successful British female player of her generation.

As well as her Grand Slam performances and ranking among the world’s best, she also won four titles on the WTA Tour and represented Britain in the Fed Cup.

Konta’s future had been unclear for a little while, having dropped to 113th in the world after struggling for form and fitness.

Since making the quarter-finals for a third successive Grand Slam at the 2019 US Open, where she lost in straight sets to Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina, Konta has won only one match in five majors.

Her last tour match came at the Cincinnati Open in August, when she lost to Czech Karolina Muchova in the first round.