Less than three years ago, Johanna Konta was just a blip on the WTA radar, regulated to competing on the ITF circuit in order to improve her ranking and gain direct entry into the game’s most prestigious tournaments.

Though she was born in Australia, Konta moved to the United Kingdom when she was fourteen and began representing Great Britain midway through the 2012 season after becoming a British citizen. At the end of last season, she became the first Brit since Jo Durie in the 80’s to be ranked within the top ten.

It should not, therefore, come as a surprise, that last week the twenty-five-year-old captured her first Premier Mandatory event at the Miami Open defeating former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

For most, she remains a mystery but to those who assiduously follow the game, she is one to watch – and closely! With Serena Williams’ recent announcement that she is expecting her first child this fall and Angelique Kerber struggling to regain the form that earned her two grand slam titles last season, Johanna Konta is poised to make further inroads towards the top of the WTA rankings.

She achieved a career high ranking of seven in the world upon winning her third title on the WTA tour at the Miami Open. At the Grand Slam level, she has consistently performed better on hardcourts than on either clay or grass. That being said, with the clay court season having just commenced with grass to follow, there is ample opportunity for Konta to solidify her position and gain additional ranking points.

Having recently won a Premier Mandatory event, Konta will enter the spring clay court season with an abundance of confidence and that indispensable aura of invincibility. Although it wasn’t always the case, it now appears that she possesses the requisite patience and physical stamina to perform well on the dirt.

For Johanna Konta, 2012, without question, was pivotal both personally and professionally. In May of that year she became a British citizen and in August, a first-time winner in main draw play at a grand slam event.

After having qualified for the main draw at the US Open, she upset world number fifty-nine, Timea Babos 6-2, 7-5 in the first round having saved ten set points in the second set. Although she lost in the following round despite being up 5-2 in the final set, she ended the year within the top 150 for the first time due in large part to her impressive run at the year’s last slam.

If 2012 was pivotal, 2015 was monumental. While still ranked outside the top 100, Konta continued to have success on the ITF circuit and as a result, was granted wild cards to the three grass court events preceding Wimbledon.

Recognizing the opportunity, Konta took full advantage and scored her first top 100 win of the season at Nottingham and at Birmingham, took a set off then world no. 13, Karolina Pliskova. At the final tune-up event in her hometown of Eastbourne, Konta defeated then world no. 8 Ekaterina Makarova and future grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza before losing in three in the quarters to eventual champion, Belinda Bencic.

At the 2015 US Open, she earned a spot in the main draw and reached the 4th round before losing in two tight sets to the two-time Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova. As a result of her outstanding play on hardcourts during the North American swing, Konta achieved a career high ranking of fifty-eight in the world.

At the Wuhan Open – a WTA Premier 5 event - Konta earned additional ranking points by beating then world no. 2 Simona Halep in the 3rd round despite being down 1-5 in the deciding set.  Though she lost in three in the quarters to eventual champion Venus Williams, that fall she reached two career milestones – a world ranking of number 49 and British number 1.

While she began last season ranked world no. 47, she ended it ranked number ten. She reached her first grand slam semi-final at the 2016 Australian Open. Though she lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber, her run to the semis was the first by a British woman in thirty-two years and catapulted her to a career-high ranking of no. 28.

At the Stanford Classic during the summer hardcourt season, she defeated two-time former champion Venus Williams for her first title on the WTA tour.

The fall of 2016 was particularly rewarding for at the China Open, she defeated Karolina Pliskova for the first time in six meetings and Madison Keys in the semis to reach her first WTA Premier Mandatory final. Despite losing the final to Agnieszka Radwanska, her ranking rose to world no. 10 making her eligible to qualify for the WTA Tour Finals for the first time.

She won her second WTA title at the 2017 Sydney International without the loss of a set. Touted as a contender to win the Australian Open, Konta reached the final eight before losing to eventual champion, Serena Williams.

She rebounded nicely from a third round loss to Caroline Garcia at Indian Wells to capture her third title and first Premier Mandatory Event at the Miami Open, despite twice being two points from defeat during a quarter-final battle with Simona Halep.

While her rapid ascent up the WTA rankings has been miraculous, her health and conditioning have been suspect. Consistently plagued with injury and illness while mentally fit, Konta must continue to improve her physical conditioning in order to contend for grand slam titles.

With her athleticism, footwork and explosive serve and groundstrokes, Konta should excel on all services - especially grass - provided she strives to further improve her volleys.

The sky is the limit for this ambitious yet steadfastly composed young woman. With nothing but ranking points to gain this season, she may very well begin the next with additional hardware and the number one ranking!