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Johanna Konta feels she is in a 'happy place' despite early exit at US Open

"I think you need to give things time. I feel happy with the relationship that we have"

Johanna Konta of Great Britain returns the ball during her women's singles first round match against Caroline Garcia of France on Day Two of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
Image: Johanna Konta fell to another first-round defeat against Caroline Garcia at the US Open

Johanna Konta feels she is back in a "happy place" with coach Michael Joyce despite suffering an early exit at the US Open.

The British No 1 was comprehensively beaten 6-2 6-2 against Caroline Garcia and has now lost her opening match in three of the last five major tournaments and gone out in the second round in the other two.

Konta, who arrived in New York under the weather after picking up a virus, was unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the Australian Open in 2016 after dropping to 46 in the rankings and paid the price by drawing Garcia.

Caroline Garcia of France (R) shakes hands with Johanna Konta of Great Britain on after defeating her in their women's singles first round match on Day Two of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City

It was here last year where Konta's dramatic slump began with a shock first-round loss to Aleksandra Krunic. She did not win another match all season and on the eve of this tournament opened up about the burn-out that left her feeling unable to compete.

But the 27-year-old insists she is in a much better place now and has shown improved form of late, posting her two best victories of the season in the build-up when she lost just one game against Serena Williams and then defeated former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Konta said: "I definitely think that today doesn't take away from the good matches that I've played here in the hard-court summer. I've played a lot of good tennis against the best players in the world."

She has no ranking points to defend for the rest of the season and has targeted qualifying for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, which features players ranked ninth to 19th for the year.

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Coach Michael Joyce confers with Johanna Konta of Great Britain in her macth against Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 9, 2018 in Indian Wells, California.
Image: Coach Michael Joyce has been working with Konta since the end of last season

She also insisted that she remains happy with coach Michael Joyce, who she started working with at the end of last season.

"I still definitely feel we're doing good work," said Konta. "I think you need to give things time. I feel happy with the relationship that we have.

"Coming into this year I was in a very unhappy place. The number one job was to get me into a happy place. I feel definitely that we've achieved that. Whether the results will come now or in a few months or whether they don't, I don't know. But it's definitely not for a lack of trying."

Caroline Garcia of France celebrates a point against Johanna Konta of Great Britain during their 2018 US Open women's match August 28, 2018 in New York

The match was played in the middle of the afternoon in brutally hot conditions, and Konta said: "I think she played incredibly well. I definitely didn't have a good serving day, so that definitely hurt me. I could have done a bit better today. For whatever reason it didn't happen.

"My eyes are still burning and I wasn't even out there for very long."

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