By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday April 24, 2021

The comeback of Ana Konjuh has taken another step this week. The 23-year-old reached her first WTA-level quarterfinal since 2017 at Istanbul (just a few weeks after notching back-to-back Top 20 wins in Miami over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek) and hopes to continue her progress this spring by playing a mix of ITF and tour-level events on the road to Roland-Garros.

Tennis now caught up with Konjuh in Istanbul, who started her comeback last September and is now closing in on the Top 200, after she was eliminated by Marta Kostyuk in three sets. We talk about the care she has to put into her arm after fully recovering from four surgeries, her feelings about the upcoming clay and grass seasons, and some of the things she is doing to ensure that she stays healthy as she starts to climb back up the rankings.




"This is a good stepping stone for me, just enough to see that I can be at a high level again,” Konjuh said on Friday in Istanbul, where she defeated Sara Errani and Wang Qiang in her first two matches before falling to Kostyuk. “To play with those girls, and hopefully many good results will come."

Konjuh, On Her Sensations on Clay, Overall and this Year

"I haven't played on clay in a while, and I don't like it very much, I'm really better on grass and hard court, but my coach is trying to get me to play on clay more and he said that I can do well on it. Hopefully I am going to have some more tournaments before the qualies of Roland-Garros to get in a rhythm more, and hopefully I'm going to raise my game even more and hopefully just stay healthy on it."

On her plans for the spring:

"I asked for [a wild card] in Madrid actually, but it turns out they are probably going to give to Spanish players, but I also asked for Rome, maybe that's a better option for me, hopefully they are going to grant me one and give me another chance to play. But if not I'm going back home and playing the 60k in Zagreb next week and I think there is Saint Malo (125K May 3-9) the week after that, I'm not sure I'm going to get in, I'm like 70 out, so it's been really ridiculous with all the deadlines and cutoffs in this covid time, but hopefully I'm going to get in somewhere to get more matches under my belt, and go from there."

Looking forward to Grass (of course):

"Since Roland-Garros has been pushed back by a week, I'm not sure that Nottingham will be played, which is in the second week of Roland-Garros, but it's still to be decided, I think, it's been really tricky, the tournaments, this year, but I'm really hoping I get some more, and if not I'll play qualies of Wimbledon."

Tennis Now: Talk about the process of staying healthy and being careful, is it different for you now in terms of rehab/ prehab? A lot of extra care going into making sure you preserve your elbow area?

"I would say that I cannot just go on court and play right away, the way you would expect from a 23-year-old, but having all these surgeries, behind me, I just learned about my body and about my elbow. It needs some extra care, I'm going to put it that way, a little bit of rehab after the match, a bit longer, massages, therapies, ice, whatever I need - just listening to it. Clay is a bit tricky with all the conditions, longer points, balls are a little tougher to play, but I'm just adjusting the best I can and taking it day by day, so far it's been good, well depending on my serve, how I serve, I think it's reacting the day after...

Tennis Now: So the serve is tricky for you, physically and in your head?

"That is the one shot that is giving me the most problems I would say, I have tried a little bit, also changed the toss of the ball and all that, playing it in front of my head, not behind, but it's a work in progress as you can see. I had some problems with it today (quarterfinal loss to Kostyuk) but I'm taking it day by day and just getting my head straight and hopefully getting better for the next tournaments."

On remaining patient, and the importance of focusing on health:

"It's true. That's my first priority and my main goal. I'm sure the results will come, they have in the past and they will in the future. My coach is trying to get me to play some maybe longer points and playing more with my brain rather than my instinct as I have done before, so just having that aspect of the game as well, and just learning from it."

On her experimentation with racquets and strings, and how it led her full-circle back to Babolat:

"It's been all over. From my whole team, just figuring out where the problem is. I've tried changing my technique, my strings, my racquet, I've been playing with Yonex for a couple of months as well, but I just didn't get that feeling, the same thing that I get with my Babolat racquet, I've been playing with it since I was like 11, 12, that's just me.

"I've seen pictures of me playing with Yonex and it just doesn't sit right with me, and I wanted to get back with my old one, even though it's not really arm friendly. I've changed some strings, I've played with some gut before as well to give me more feel, but I just said 'screw it' if I'm going to have these problems I'm going to keep going my way, so I switched back to my old strings, my old racquet, so I'm back now."

Tennis Now: Your old strings are polys, what are you using?

"RPM bast, full set. [For tension] I go from 26, 25, maybe a little bit lower or a little but higher, depending on the conditions."

Tennis Now: Do you think that being on clay, not your best surface and maybe attached to lower expectations, is just what you need right now, just to ease yourself back into competitive play?

"Of course. I grew up on clay, so it's not like I don't know how to play on clay, I just prefer some shorter points and faster surfaces, but it has been an adjustment, practicing back home for a while and just playing the next week at home as well, so I'm just really looking forward to it, I'm kind of playing a little bit more smarter right now, with a little bit more spin and all that, and I think I'm going to have some great results on it as well."