Johanna Konta: why is tennis player retiring, what were her career earnings, and what is her current ranking?

The Former British number one, Johanna Konta, has recently announced on twitter that she intends to move away from tennis.

Aged just 30, Konta took to Social Media to say that she was ‘Grateful’ and that she would be stepping away from the court:

“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.”

Why is Johanna Konta retiring?

Konta has not explained in her tweet why she has taken the decision to retire but she has recently struggled with form and has dropped to 113th in the WTA World rankings and since her 2019 quarter-final finish at the US Grand Slam, Konta has only one one match in five major tournaments.

At the Cincinnati Open in August, Konta lost in the first round to the Czech tennis player Karolina Muchova.

In the past few years, the Australian born Briton has struggled with tendonitis in her right knee, and she announced in June that the injury was something she would have to manage for the rest of her career.

More bad luck continued for Konta as she was forced out of her home Grand Slam the night before the tournament as one of her team tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

The former world number four then contracted the virus herself and was ruled out of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

What has Johanna Konta achieved in her career?

Johanna Konta has four WTA titles to her name and in July 2017 reached a career high of number 4 in the WTA World rankings: she won her first WTA title in 2016 when she beat Dominikia Cibulkova at the Stanford Classic.

The following year she went on to win both the Sydney and Miami Opens. It wasn’t until 2021 that she won her fourth and final title at the Nottingham Open.

She has previously reached the quarter finals for the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, Wimbledon and the US Open both being achieved in 2019, and she has also reached the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon semi finals.

A number of these achievements, no other woman from Britain had achieved for more than 30 years.

Where has Johanna Konta ranked in the world?

Currently ranked at 113th in the WTA rankings, Konta’s highest ranking came in 2017 when she reached number 4.

Konta first broke into the top 100 in the WTA rankings in 2014 after reaching the second round at the Shenzhen Open, the first round of the Birmingham Classic and the first round of the Eastbourne International.

Her successes in this year brought her up to 89th.

Konta entered the top 50 in the following year after reaching the quarter finals at the US Open and Wuhan Open. She reached number 49 and knocked Heather Watson off the British number one spot.

It was in 2017 that she reached the Nottingham final and became the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon singles semifinals since Virginia Wade in 1978 which elevated Konta to  her highest ranking.

What are Johanna Konta’s career earnings?

It is estimated that from her efforts on the court, Konta has earned just under $10million, roughly £7.5million.

The former world number four is estimated to have a net worth of approximately £2.9million.

Konta is sponsored mainly by two brands: Ellesse and Babolat. She was also appointed as the first UK ambassador of Nature Valley cereal bars in 2017 and as a deal with the British accessories company Radley.

Konta announced her retirement at the end of the 2021 season and her last professional match was played on 17 August at the Cincinnati Masters, where she was knocked out in the first round by Karolina Muchova after three sets.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.