Jo Konta splits with coach Michael Joyce after falling to world No45 following poor season
British No1 will begin her search for a fourth new trainer in just three years
JO KONTA will begin her search for a fourth new coach in three years after splitting from American coach Michael Joyce.
The British No1 started working with Joyce, a former coach of Russian Maria Sharapova and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, at the start of the 2018 season.
Yet she has been unable to match the displays of 2017 when she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and Australian Open quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old, a former World No4, has failed to progress past the second round of the past five Grand Slams.
Last month she lost in the first round in Beijing and Wuhan, China, and was knocked out of the Tokyo Open in the last 16.
This year, Konta has only beaten three top-20 players: Jelena Ostapenko (Montreal), Magdalena Rybarikova (Rome and Madrid) and Madison Keys (Brisbane).
Her only notable performance was a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of an under-par Serena Williams in San Jose.
Konta, who has fallen to 45th in the world, will finish her season next week when she travels to Moscow for the Kremlin Cup.
Asked about the strength of the partnership with Joyce following a first-round exit to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia at the US Open in August, Konta said: “We'll work together as long as we feel it's mutually beneficial.”
She added: “Whether the results will come now or in a few months or whether they don’t, I don’t know. But it’s definitely not for a lack of trying.”
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Konta has had a turbulent time with coaches, parting ways with Belgian Wim Fissette almost exactly 12 months ago after she narrowly missed out on the season-ending WTA Finals following a decline in form.
Konta worked with Spainard Esteban Carril for two-and-half-years until December 2016.
It was during this time she broke into the top ten in the world rankings for the first time – the first British woman to do so since Jo Durie in 1984.