Johanna
Konta commented that she is not interested in returning to tennis now as a
mother, unlike
Caroline Wozniacki.
Former
world No. 4 is currently at
Wimbledon as a guest of the organization, where she
played doubles alongside Sania Mirza and defeated the pair of Andrea Petkovic
and Magdalena Rybarikova with a score of 6-3, 7-6(8). British player Johanna
Konta retired from the WTA tour at the age of 30 at the end of 2021.
Konta gave
birth to her daughter Emmeline in September 2022, and her life took a rapid
turn from traveling the world as an elite tennis player to being a first-time
mother. The former tennis player reflected on the change that has occurred in
her life:
“A part of
me will always miss it just because the kind of adrenaline and the life you
live as a successful professional tennis player, you can’t replicate in any
part of your life,” claimed Konta.
“Compared
to that, motherhood is frankly quite boring. It’s very monotonous and it’s
fundamentally not really enjoyable, for me anyway,” she added.
“I love my
daughter. When I put her down for naps I get excited for when she’s going to
wake up. I’m to the moon in love with my daughter, but I think the act of motherhood
is actually really tough,”
Johanna Konta said.
“It’s
monotonous, boring and, compared to what I used to do – which is play on Centre
Court and travel the world and live a really selfish existence – to then be
thrown into a very selfless existence, it’s a really hard transition. It’s not
fun.
“But I
would choose it every single day over playing on Centre Court. I really love
what my life was but I am learning to love my life more now,” she added.
The British
player admitted that she has not played tennis during this time, not even
casually, and described the difficulty she had in returning to a tennis court
at Wimbledon:
“The first
day I was so sore everywhere but the last few days it’s been fine,”
“Don’t ask
me to move a lot, though. That’s not what it used to be. I’m very
committed to retirement,” Konta joked.