According to world No. 1 Andy Murray, Johanna Konta will have a legitimate chance to win a Grand Slam this year.
23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams won the Australian Open, but has announced she is on maternity leave, creating a women's field that is now wide open. Amongst the rest of the Top 10, only Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova have won majors, and Konta is the highest-ranked player to have captured a top-level title this season, in Miami.
Murray says that with Serena not playing this year, many players—including Konta—have a legitimate chance to win Grand Slams.
“I don't see why not,” Murray told reporters during an appearance at Queen’s Club, where he will play in June. “Right now the women's game is very open with Serena being out for the foreseeable future, which makes it very exciting for a lot of the top women. No one's sure who's going to step up in her absence, and Jo obviously has a chance.”
The 25-year-old Konta did manage to reach the semis at the Australian Open, upsetting Caroline Wozniacki before losing to Serena. But the British No. 1 has never won a match at the French Open, and has never gone past the second round at Wimbledon.
At the U.S. Open last summer, Konta did reach the fourth round.
"Clay maybe isn't her favorite surface,” Murray said, “but on the hard courts and the grass, there's no reason why she can't be right up there competing for the biggest tournaments, and therefore the top spots in the rankings. It's a big few months coming up for her."