Johanna Konta: What has gone wrong for the British number one?

How Johanna Konta must wish she could have bottled up what elevated her into the top four last year.

Her world was so very different back then. The nation finally believed it had a commanding figure in the women's game - a player who followed up a semi-final appearance in the 2016 Australian Open with a last-four appearance at Wimbledon, the first British female to do so since 1978.

'You Beauty' hailed The Sun, while her favourite band U2 tweeted a message of support.

For the Australian-born player with Hungarian roots, the run at the All England Club was the perfect way to underline her allegiance, and she finished the year with two WTA titles and more than £2m in prize money.

It's those negative questions that make you think about the past - things you don't want to think about any more

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters

But those heady days are long gone. Konta split with coach Wim Fissette after last year's Wimbledon and hired Maria Sharapova's former coach Michael Joyce at the start of the season, but it has just not clicked for the 27-year-old this season.

A dig at the media during May's French Open and a spat with the umpire during June's Nottingham Open final has only further exacerbated the situation.

Thursday's defeat by Dominika Cibulkova, who had herself endured a slump in the past year, is just another blow for the Briton who will fall from her current ranking of 24 once the Grand Slam ends.

So what has happened? Will she ever find herself back in the top 10? Or is there no way back?

SOURCE:bbc