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By Chris Oddo | Thursday January 5, 2016

Johanna Konta made history for Great Britain last year when she reached the Top 10 to become the first player from her nation to achieve the feat in 32 years. This year, she’ll look to stabilize inside the elite group and begin to make her mark at majors.

So far, so good for the 25-year-old.

Konta battled past Kristyna Pliskova, 6-4, 6-7(11), 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Shenzhen Open, where she’ll face Katerina Siniakova for a spot in the final.

It would be Konta’s third WTA Final if she can past the Czech who upset Simona Halep earlier in the week.

Konta is working with coach Wim Fissette after parting ways with Esteban Carril last year. She also lost her longtime mental coach, Juan Coto, who passed away late last year.

“He’s still very much a part of everything that I do, everything that I will continue to do in this sport and this career, and most likely beyond that as well,” Konta told the UK Guardian last year. “He has gifted me with an incredible amount of tools and habits that I still to this day am looking to improve, every single day.”


Konta is the highest-remaining seed in Shenzhen after American Alison Riske shocked Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 on Thursday. The victory was Riske’s first Top 5 win and second Top 10 win in a row.

Riske defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova for her second career Top 10 win last October at Tianjin, where she was runner-up. The American is currently playing at a career-high ranking of 39.

Our Take: Konta is one of the most stable players on tour from a mental perspective, and she gives herself a chance to win by making it deep into draws pretty much every week. Though she only owns one WTA title and has only one Grand Slam semifinal to her name, she continues to prove that she is a force to be reckoned with on tour.

And it’s not only her strong mental game that makes her good. She’s also surprisingly powerful and one of the stronger servers on tour.

As for Radwanska, the loss to Riske is disappointing but not the end of the world. She’ll have her highs and lows this year, like she always does. It won’t change the fact that she is the WTA’s most incredible shotmaker and also a legitimate threat to go deep in any event. All it will take for Radwanska is one magical Grand Slam fortnight to change the notion that she is the best WTA player to have never won a major. Radwanska got two wins under her belt in Shenzhen—that’s not the worst prep at this time of year.

Photo Credit: Shenzhen Open.

 

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