Johanna Konta has said that she lost to the better player after she fell to a straight-sets defeat to Anastasija Sevastova in the fourth round of the US Open.
The British number one had been favourite to prevail against the Latvian, but it appeared that a hectic summer had continued to take its toll as she suffered a 6-4 7-5 defeat to the world number 48.
The 25-year-old is quoted by The Mirror as saying: "I felt I did the best I could today. My opponent played an overall more solid match than I did.
"I didn't play the tennis level that I maybe would have liked to have played, but I competed the best I could. I do not go in with an expectation of winning. I went in with the expectation of doing my best and really making sure that I left it all out there, which I did.
"If I were to be judging myself on results, it would be a very up and down sort of career. I take my enjoyment and my satisfaction of the effort I do put in on a daily basis. So if I look at it like that, I do think I did the best that I could today."
Konta is now likely to take some time off before attempting to break into the world's top 10 for the first time in her career during the final months of 2016.
Darren Plant
