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Three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Johanna Konta returned to competition on Tuesday after a two-month absence during which she caught COVID-19 and treated what she called a “massive range of symptoms.”
“Definitely the worst disease I have experienced in a very long time,” Konta said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Konta, 30, who placed 4th and is currently 41st, qualified Tuesday at the National Bank of Montreal Open when her opponent, Zhang Shuai, retired in the second set. due to an injured left leg.
Zhang was also the last player Konta faced on tour, in the turf tournament final in Nottingham, England on June 13. Konta won this match for his fourth WTA title.
Two weeks later, Konta was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after being determined to have been in close contact with a member of her team who tested positive for the coronavirus. Konta was supposed to be the 27th seed in the women’s draw at the All England Club, where she was a semi-finalist in 2017. She also reached the last four at the 2016 Australian Open at Roland Garros 2019.
Then, while Wimbledon was in custody, Konta tested positive for COVID-19. She then retired from the British squad for the Tokyo Olympics.
“It was very heartbreaking and it was very difficult. There was nothing good or fun about having COVID and missing Wimbledon and the Olympics. There’s just no way around it, ”Konta said. “However, I consider myself to be a pretty happy person, a pretty positive person and definitely a pragmatic person, and I like to practice perspective in all the good things I have in my life. So I absolutely had to use these tools. And at the end of the day, I looked at my life and everything is fine.… And I just tried to draw some energy out of it and I was looking forward to the time when I could start training. and come back to the match field.
Konta said neither she nor her fiancé had been hospitalized, “but we were pretty sick.”
She said she had to wait around 2 and a half weeks after falling ill to resume training.
“We took it very, very slowly. Then I had my complete control, in terms of heart, lungs, everything, and everything was back to normal, ”Konta said. “Then we started to do a little more and here we are. “
Konta has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I’m definitely not against it in any way,” Konta said. “I think, of course, that I am not yet advised to get vaccinated at the moment. I think that will give me a little time to also see where the world is, how everything is going and then I will make a personal choice on the kind of when, how and where and all of these things.
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