(Reuters) – Britain’s Johanna Konta said on Sunday she is still not sure if she should have taken the COVID-19 vaccine despite having to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/britains-konta-pulls-out-tokyo-games-after-covid-19-positive-2021-07-13 after a positive test affected her preparations.
Konta, who won the Nottingham grasscourt title in June, was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon a day before the Grand Slam got underway when a member of her team tested positive for COVID-19.
The 30-year-old then tested positive during her self-isolation and said COVID had affected her both physically and mentally.
“It was a combination of feeling quite ill so I was sleeping or just existing for a few days,” she told reporters ahead of the U.S. Open, which begins on Monday.
“There was also a period there where I had to work through my own feelings of injustice at all of it, like: ‘Why now?’ sort of feeling. I needed a bit of space and a bit of licking my wounds.”
When asked if she regretted not taking the vaccine, she said: “I don’t know, I’m not too sure.”
The Briton also said she did not want to be drawn into an argument about COVID-19 vaccinations being mandatory to play at certain tournaments.
Konta’s compatriot Andy Murray has said players travelling around the world had a ‘responsibility’ to get vaccinated https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/murray-urges-fellow-players-get-vaccinated-2021-08-28.
“This is a tricky thing to talk about because it’s a very inflammatory subject and there’s no real right answer,” Konta added.
“I don’t want to talk about it because I wouldn’t be able to get my point across without it being a case for argument.”
Konta returned to action at Cincinnati earlier this month, falling in the first round of the tune-up tournament for the U.S. Open where she plays Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
