Konta capable of Wimbledon win, says Clijsters
Kim Clijsters has been impressed with Johanna Konta's ability to handle pressure at Wimbledon. "She's just so focused," said the Belgian.
Former world number one Kim Clijsters believes Johanna Konta has "everything to win a grand slam" as the Briton continues her bid for Wimbledon glory.
Sixth seed Konta is through to the quarter-finals at the All England Club and will take on French Open runner-up Simona Halep - the only remaining player above her in the rankings - on Tuesday.
Konta has only previously made the semi-finals of a slam on one occasion, at the 2016 Australian Open, but Clijsters would not be surprised to see the 26-year-old go all the way this week.
Speaking at the Tennis Legends event presented by the Wall Street Journal, Clijsters told Omnisport:"She's a smart girl, she has everything that it takes to try and keep improving and try and give herself opportunities to be at the end of a grand slam, to be there and then we'll see how she deals with it mentally.
"She does have everything to win a grand slam, so it's interesting. All these matches that are coming up now in the draw are very interesting to watch."
Half of the women's quarter-finalists at Wimbledon - including Konta and Halep - have yet to win a grand slam.
Clijsters, who claimed three US Open titles and also won the Australian Open during her illustrious career, added: "I think a lot of them believe they can do it, but really don't know how ... or the belief causes pressure and they really don't know how to deal with it when the time is right to do that. So it's very interesting.
"I love seeing games unfold and seeing players being put in pressure situations and how they cope in that. I think that's where, so far, Johanna Konta has been, to me, very impressive. in how she's been able to stay focused and not get distracted.
"At times you don't even see whether she's winning or losing. She's just so focused and her body language is positive, which is something I enjoy seeing."
Angelique Kerber exited the competition on Monday at the hands of Garbine Muguruza and will lose her number-one ranking to Halep or Karolina Pliskova as a result.
"I think Angie is in a situation that she needs a little bit of time to adjust to," said Clijsters.
"She's had a great year, she comes back to a lot of tournaments where she is going to have to defend either a title or a big grand slam, or defend points, and playing players who are really motivated and are trying to beat the number one player in the world, the player who was one of the most dominant players of the previous season. And that is very tricky at times to deal with, so again, it needs time to adjust.
"She knows she's won a slam, she knows what it's like to do it. So it's not like she has all of a sudden forgotten how to do that. It's just a matter of trying to find the right balance between the focus and the hard work and without being too bothered by everything that is said around you."