Konta keeping focused

Britain's Johanna Konta is not going to burden herself with expectations at Wimbledon and would rather focus on giving her best during next month's grass-court Grand Slam.

Konta, ranked No 8 in the world, excelled in this year's first few tournaments, winning the Sydney International and the Miami Open, but the 26-year-old failed to shine on clay and was bounced in the first round of the French Open by China's Hsieh Su-wei.

With the grasscourt season beginning with the Aegon Open in Nottingham on June 14 followed by Wimbledon in July, Konta said she does not feel any extra pressure to add to her three WTA titles.

"I am not feeling any more expectation than previous years. My own expectations in terms of how I want to do have stayed the same," Konta said on Monday ahead of her first match in Nottingham.

"I can only ever do my best so wherever my best on the day takes me, that's it. I try to approach every game the same."

Konta said Jelena Ostapenko's French Open win underlined the depth of women's tennis.

The 20-year-old Latvian fought back from a set and 3-0 down to blaze past the experienced Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and become her country's first Grand Slam champion.

"There is a lot of depth in women's tennis and she (Ostapenko) is the perfect example of that," Konta said.

"She is a very, very good player and someone that has done well on the tour for a couple of years.

"She is not unknown to us and she has always been a very dangerous player. Her winning is incredibly special for her and I am sure she is enjoying it.

"It shows the depth, it shows how many good quality players we have. It is exciting to see."

Reuters

Annacone added to Stan's team

French Open runner-up Stan Wawrinka has added American Paul Annacone to his coaching team for the upcoming grass-court season, the world No 3 said after Sunday's loss to Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final.

Annacone coached former world No 1 Pete Sampras from 1995-2001 and for a short period in 2002.

The 52-year-old, who will work with Wawrinka's regular coach Magnus Norman, also coached 18-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in 2010-11.

"I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I have added Paul Annacone to our existing coaching staff to help during the grass-court season over the next four weeks," Wawrinka said at his media conference.

"Paul's experience speaks for itself having worked with some of the greatest players of all time.

"His knowledge can only better our understanding of grass. It's a real privilege and an honor to add such a coach to our corner."

Reuters