title: Planetary boundaries

text: Elsewhere in their proceedings, panel members have expressed reservations about the political effectiveness of using the concept of "planetary boundaries": "Planetary boundaries are still an evolving concept that should be used with caution [...] The planetary boundaries question can be divisive as it can be perceived as a tool of the "North" to tell the "South" not to follow the resource intensive and environmentally destructive development pathway that rich countries took themselves... This language is unacceptable to most of the developing countries as they fear that an emphasis on boundaries would place unacceptable brakes on poor countries."


title: Planetary boundaries

text: However, the concept is routinely used in the proceedings of the United Nations, and in the "UN Daily News". For example, the UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner states that the challenge of agriculture is to "feed a growing global population without pushing humanity's footprint beyond planetary boundaries." The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Yearbook 2010 also repeated Rockström's message, conceptually linking it with ecosystem management and environmental governance indicators.


title: Planetary boundaries

text: In their 2012 report entitled "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A future worth choosing", The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability called for bold global efforts, "including launching a major global scientific initiative, to strengthen the interface between science and policy. We must define, through science, what scientists refer to as "planetary boundaries", "environmental thresholds" and "tipping points"."


title: Planetary boundaries

text: The planetary boundaries concept is also used in proceedings by the European Commission, and was referred to in the European Environment Agency synthesis report "The European environment – state and outlook 2010".


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Kevin Mark Levrone (born July 16, 1964) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, IFBB Hall of Famer, musician and blogger.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: During his professional career, Levrone competed in 68 IFBB Professional contests. Considered one of the best bodybuilders of the 1990s, even though he is a zero time Mr. Olympia, he has won 23 pro shows, holding the record of the most wins as an IFBB professional until Ronnie Coleman set the new record in 2004 and that record was eventually broken by Dexter Jackson in 2016 with 29 wins.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Levrone was born on July 16, 1964, in Baltimore, Maryland, to an Italian-American father and African-American mother. He lost both parents to cancer at a young age. Kevin was first inspired to pursue bodybuilding by his cousin. After seeing the size and condition of his cousin, who had returned from serving in the military, Kevin became more serious about working out and bodybuilding in general.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Levrone began his professional IFBB career in 1991 after finishing first in the NPC Finals. After placing 2nd at the 1992 Mr. Olympia contest, for his first participation, he had a severe injury in February 1993, completely tearing his major and minor pectorals while bench-pressing 600 pounds, and he needed surgery to reattach them. He had two surgeries, the first one lasted 8 hours, then while he was healing he got an infection and he needed a second surgery. At that time everyone thought that Levrone's career was over, yet he managed to be in contest shape for the 1994 Mr. Olympia only eight weeks later, and placed 3rd. He placed 2nd at Mr. Olympia four times—in 1992 and 1995 behind Dorian Yates (six times winner), in 2000 and 2002 behind Ronnie Coleman (eight times winner).


title: Kevin Levrone

text: When he stopped competing in 2003, Levrone did not officially announce his retirement; he explained this as he never thought about retirement, but just decided to do something different and find other challenges.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Despite having been away from competition for well over a decade since 2003, Kevin officially announced in May 2016 that he would return to once again compete at the professional level at the Mr. Olympia contest, by special invite; he indeed entered the 2016 Mr. Olympia contest, at age 51, and placed 17th, with only five months of preparation. In 2018, in the lead up to competing in the Arnold Classic Australia competition, Levrone announced that this would be his last competition; he placed 13th out of a field of 14. Many believe he had improved over his 2016 Mr Olympia condition, but he was still far from the condition that had made him a big name in bodybuilding in the 90s and early 2000s.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Levrone has been in 13 Mr. Olympia competitions (including the 2016 edition). Despite placing a number of times (including four times second), Kevin never took first place in a Mr. Olympia competition earning him the nickname, "The Uncrowned King of Mr. Olympia" (an honorary title he shares with Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler and Shawn Ray). Levrone has been applauded for his ability to train quickly for competitions, rather than training year-long. This fact is often attributed to the reason why he was able to come back for the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition. Despite not placing in the top 10 for the first time, Levrone got himself in competition-shape in only 5 months. After the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition Levrone revealed he had trained despite injuries to his pectorals and knee.


title: Kevin Levrone

text: Since ending his competition career, Levrone enjoys playing other sports like tennis and golf. He has acted in several films and is also a musician. He released an online training platform in early 2016 naming it TeamLevrone.com. In 2015, he released a supplement line called, "Kevin Levrone Signature Series".


title: Barry Manilow discography

text: Barry Manilow is an American singer–songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, and conductor. His discography consists of 31 studio albums, 6 live albums, 17 compilation albums, and 57 singles. Signed to his first recording contract in 1969 by Tony Orlando, after writing, singing and recording hit jingles for business corporations in the mid and late 1960s, Manilow released his first solo album, "Barry Manilow", in 1973. He is best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)". To date, he has sold more than 85 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling recording artists of all time.


title: Vox Day

text: Theodore Robert Beale (born August 21, 1968), also known as Vox Day, is an American far-right activist, writer, publisher, and video game designer. He has been described as a white supremacist, a misogynist, and part of the alt-right. "The Wall Street Journal" described him as "the most despised man in science fiction."


title: Vox Day

text: Beale started in video game development, which led to him writing science fiction and social commentary with a focus on issues of religion, race and gender. He became active in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, from which he was expelled, and was a central figure in the "Rabid Puppies" controversy involving the Hugo Awards for science fiction. He is active in publishing, being a founding member of Castalia House.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale grew up in Minnesota, the son of Rebecca and Robert Beale. He states on his blog that he is of English, Irish, Mexican, and Native American descent. He graduated from Bucknell University in 1990.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale and Andrew Lunstad founded the video game company Fenris Wolf in 1993. The company was developing two games – "Rebel Moon Revolution" and "Traveler" for the Sega Dreamcast – when it closed in 1999 after a legal dispute with its retail publisher GT Interactive. In 1999, under the name Eternal Warriors, Beale and Lunstad released "The War in Heaven", a Biblical video game published by Valusoft and distributed by GT Interactive.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale created the WarMouse – known as the OpenOffice Mouse until Sun Microsystems objected on trademark grounds – a computer mouse with 18 buttons, a scroll wheel, a thumb-operated joystick, and 512k of memory.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale writes under the pseudonym "Vox Day" – a homophone for the Latin phrase ""Vox Dei"", literally "the voice of God." He first used the byline for a weekly video game review column in the "St. Paul Pioneer Press", and later continued to use the pen name for a weekly "WorldNetDaily" opinion column. In 2000, Beale published his first solo novel, "The War in Heaven", the first in a series of fantasy novels with a religious theme titled "The Eternal Warriors." The novel investigates themes "about good versus evil among angels, fallen and otherwise".


title: Vox Day

text: In 2008, Beale published "The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens", a book devoted to criticizing the arguments presented in various books by atheist authors Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Michel Onfray. The book was named a 2007 Christmas recommendation by John Derbyshire in the conservative magazine "National Review Online".


title: Vox Day

text: In early 2014, Beale founded Castalia House publishing in Kouvola, Finland. He is lead editor and has published the work of such writers as John C. Wright, Jerry Pournelle, Tom Kratman, Eric S. Raymond, Martin van Creveld, Rolf Nelson, and William S. Lind.


title: Vox Day

text: In 2017, Beale launched Infogalactic, an English-language wiki encyclopedia. The site was a fork of the contents of English Wikipedia which could be gradually edited to remove the influence of what Beale described as "the left-wing thought police who administer [Wikipedia]". It has been described by "Wired" and "The Washington Post" as a version of Wikipedia targeted to alt-right readers.


title: Vox Day

text: In September 2018, Beale announced Comicsgate Comics as a "100% SJW-free" comic book publishing imprint. The use of this name drew backlash from Ethan Van Sciver and other Comicsgate activists, who variously objected to being associated with white supremacists or to the name being commercialized. Beale later renamed the imprint to Arkhaven Comics.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale also runs YouTube channels which, according to "The Daily Dot", have jointly more than 49,500 subscribers.


title: Vox Day

text: In 2013, Beale ran unsuccessfully against Steven Gould to succeed John Scalzi as president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). African-American writer N. K. Jemisin, during her delivery of the Guest of Honour speech at 2013 Continuum in Australia, stated that 10% of the SFWA membership voted for Beale in his bid for the SFWA presidential position and called him "a self-described misogynist, racist, anti-Semite, and a few other flavors of asshole" and asserted that silence about these issues was the same as enabling them. Beale responded by calling Jemisin an "ignorant half-savage". In the resulting interactions, Beale also called writer and editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden a "fat frog".


title: Vox Day

text: Beale tweeted a link to his comments about Jemisin on the SFWA's official @SFWAAuthors Twitter feed. The SFWA Board subsequently voted unanimously to expel him from the organization. In 2015, "The Wall Street Journal" described Beale as "the most despised man in science fiction".


title: Vox Day

text: Based on Larry Correia's "Sad Puppies" ballot-manipulation campaign, Beale implemented a slate of candidates for the 2015 Hugo Awards called "Rabid Puppies," instructing his followers to nominate the slate "precisely as they are." The Rabid Puppies slate placed 58 of its 67 recommended nominees on the ballot. Two of the nominations were for Beale himself ("Best Editor - Long Form", "Best Editor - Short Form") and eleven were for works published by his publisher Castalia House, where Beale acts as lead editor. Two authors, an editor, and a fanzine subsequently withdrew their own nominations; three of these four explicitly cited the wish to dissociate themselves from Beale as being among their reasons for doing so. Withdrawals from the "Best Novel" category allowed space for Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem" to move into a finalist position, and it went on to win the "Best Novel Award". Although the winning novel was one of the few nominees not on the Rabid Puppies slate, some sources credited the win to Beale's backing of the novel.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale stated that his intentions behind the Rabid Puppies campaign were that he "wanted to leave a big smoking hole where the Hugo Awards were" and send "a giant Fuck You—one massive gesture of contempt." He also said that no matter how the Hugo administrators modify the nominating process to try to prevent manipulation, he will still have enough supporters to control future awards: “I have 390 sworn and numbered vile faceless minions who are sworn to mindless and perfect obedience."


title: Vox Day

text: In 2016, Beale continued the Rabid Puppies campaign, posting a slate of finalists for the Hugo Award, including all finalists in the Best Short Story category. Beale included himself on the slate of candidates, and was nominated in the category Best Editor, Long Form, the "Castalia House Blog" edited by Jeffro Johnson in the category Best Fanzine, and his own non-fiction release "SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police", published by Castalia House, in the category Best Related Work.


title: Vox Day

text: Other Rabid Puppy recommendations that were Hugo Award finalists included Chuck Tingle's short story "Space Raptor Butt Invasion" and Hao Jingfang's "Folding Beijing," which won in the Best Novelette category. All nominated works associated with Castalia House ranked below No Award.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale was an early supporter of Gamergate and hosted the GGinParis meetup in July 2015 with Milo Yiannopoulos and Mike Cernovich.


title: Vox Day

text: In 2019, Beale put together a campaign to crowdfund "Rebel’s Run," which was to be an "anti-woke" superhero movie. The campaign exceeded its original goal and collected slightly over a million dollars in funding, which was to be held in escrow while Beale worked to secure additional funds to make the movie. In 2022, however, Beale announced that he had put the funds in an investment with Ohana Capital Financial, which allegedly spent the funds on an unrelated business undertaking. Ohana owner James Wolfgramm has been indicted on charges of fraud. By video, Beale told the subscribers "I wouldn’t count on us getting the money back.”


title: Vox Day

text: The Hugo voters ranked "Opera" sixth out of five nominees, behind No Award. In the 2015 Hugos, it was alleged that his nomination may have been the result of "block voting by special interest groups." In all cases, his nominations have been ranked below "No Award" in the final vote.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale is married, and has several children. With his family of five, he lives in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and owns Cressier Manor in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland.


title: Vox Day

text: Beale describes himself as a Christian nationalist. He has been described as an alt-right personality by "Wired", and a leader of the alt-right by "Business Insider". Writing for "Publishers Weekly", Kimberly Winston described Beale as a "fundamentalist Southern Baptist", but other journalists have made more pointed characterizations, such as Mike VanHelder's assertion in "Popular Science" that Beale's views are "white supremacist".


title: Vox Day

text: Beale has been supportive of the white supremacist Fourteen Words slogan, promoting it in his "Sixteen points of the Alt-Right", which placed the sentence "we must secure the existence of white people and a future for white children" as the fourteenth point.


title: Vox Day

text: Concerning the notion of white supremacy, Beale has said, "white supremacy simply isn't true. Whites are not superior, but whites are the only tribe willing and able to maintain Western civilization because they are the only tribe that truly values it. The answer for those who support Western civilization, regardless of sex, color, or religion, is to embrace white tribalism, white separatism, and especially white Christian masculine rule."


title: Vox Day

text: "The New Republic" reported that Beale "has written that women should be deprived of the vote", an interpretation of comments in his article "Why Women's Rights are Wrong". In Beale's post "In which we are called out", he argued that "women's suffrage has been a complete and unmitigated disaster across the West and it is doubtful that any society can survive it for long." On the other hand, Beale later said in 2016: "And that is why I am an advocate of direct democracy with full female suffrage: it is both possible as well as an improvement on a system that is clearly incompatible with societal survival and Western civilization."


title: Turner Entertainment

text: Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing the TBS library for worldwide distribution. In recent years, this role has largely been limited to being the copyright holder, as it has become an in-name-only subsidiary of Warner Bros., which currently administers their library.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: On March 25, 1986, Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting System purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) from Kirk Kerkorian for $1.5 billion, and renamed it MGM Entertainment Company, Inc. However, due to concerns in the financial community over the debt-load of his companies, on August 26, 1986, he was forced to sell the MGM name, all of United Artists, and the Culver City-based lot back to Kerkorian for approximately $300 million after months of ownership. But in order to manage the vault, Turner kept the studio's film, television and cartoon library as well as a small portion of the United Artists library, forming Turner Entertainment Company. The company was headed by Roger Mayer, who was former executive of MGM, and formed a development division with the intention of making movies and TV shows. The library also included the pre-1950 Warner Bros. library (as well as most of the pre-August 1948 "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoons), the Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios "Popeye" cartoons originally released by Paramount Pictures, the US/Canadian/Latin American/Australian distribution rights to the RKO Radio Pictures library, and most of the "Gilligan's Island" television franchise (not counting the TV movie sequels owned by other companies), all of which were owned by United Artists. In order to use funds, Turner instituted a policy that they would pass on making sequels to classic Turner-owned properties, in favor of making colorization of old black-and-white movies. On December 2, 1987, Turner Entertainment had entered into an agreement with American Film Technologies to computer-colorize three films that were originally in black-and-white, namely the three films from the library, such as "Boom Town", "They Were Expendable" and "Catered Affair", and Turner would have the option to have AFT to have an order for additional 22 films and has a second option for another 24 films between now and 1992. On December 10, 1987, Turner acquired the worldwide licensing rights to 800 of RKO's films from its then-parent company Wesray Capital Corporation.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: On October 3, 1988, Turner Broadcasting launched the TNT network, and later Turner Classic Movies in 1994 to use their former MGM/UA library. In doing so, Turner has played a major part in film preservation and restoration. By broadcasting such classic films as "King Kong", "The Wizard of Oz", "Gone with the Wind", "Citizen Kane", "Casablanca", "Meet Me in St. Louis", "Singin' in the Rain" and the original "The Jazz Singer", on numerous Turner affiliated cable channels, as well as in showing them in revival movie houses and home video worldwide, Turner introduced a new generation to these films.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: On November 29, 1989, Turner made another attempt to buy MGM/UA, but the deal failed, and they formed Turner Pictures and Turner Pictures Worldwide instead.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: On October 29, 1991, Turner acquired Hanna-Barbera Productions and most of the pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions library from Great American Broadcasting for $320 million. Shortly after the acquisition, in 1992, Turner Broadcasting launched Cartoon Network, and later Boomerang, to use its vast animation library for primary broadcasts.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: On August 17, 1993, Turner purchased Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema for over $650 million.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: Turner Entertainment self-distributed much of its library for the first decade of its existence, but on October 10, 1996, Turner Broadcasting was purchased by Time Warner and its distribution functions were largely absorbed into Warner Bros. As a result, Turner is now an in-name-only subsidiary of Warner, serving merely as a copyright holder for a portion of their library. Hanna-Barbera's current purpose as the in-name only unit of Warner Bros. Animation is to serve as the copyright holder for its creations such as "The Flintstones", "Scooby-Doo" and "Yogi Bear" while Warner Bros. handles sales and merchandising.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: As a production company, Turner Entertainment also created original in-house programming, such as documentaries about the films it owns, new animated material based on "Tom & Jerry" and other related cartoon properties, and once produced made-for-television films, miniseries, and theatrical films such as "Gettysburg", "", "Fallen", "The Pagemaster" and "Cats Don't Dance" under the Turner Pictures banner. In 1995, the Turner Pictures production company developed a film slate. Turner also had an international distribution sales unit, accordingly named Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution, Inc. Turner Pictures was folded into Warner Bros. after the Turner-Time Warner merger, and currently holds the distribution rights to the films made by the production division. Time Warner transferred some of Turner's leftover projects like "City of Angels" and "You've Got Mail" into Warner Bros.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: Turner Feature Animation was Turner's Animation unit headed by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. The two animated movies "The Pagemaster" and "Cats Don't Dance" were produced under Turner's animation unit. Spun off from the feature film division of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Turner Feature Animation was folded into , which was then merged into Warner Bros. Animation.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: In the first decade of its existence, Turner released most of its own catalogue on home video through Turner Home Entertainment (THE). However, the MGM and Warner film libraries which Turner owned were still distributed by MGM/UA Home Video along with THE until their rights expired in 1999, while THE handled the home video distribution of titles from the RKO library. THE released films produced by Turner Pictures on home video with their distributors and independently released the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library on home video.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: Turner Home Entertainment also released World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pay-per-view events, wrestler profiles, and "Best Of" packages on video until the demise of WCW in 2001; the WCW video library, along with the rights to the WCW name and certain talent contracts, were sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in March 2001. In 1987, Turner Home Entertainment had inked a distribution deal with the Video Institute of the Soviet Union to release 10 titles from the pre-1986 MGM library in Russian videocassette rental shops, and the deal with Turner would be a first for the Soviet home video market, where officials indicate that there are 660,000 VCR recordings, and films include "Zabriskie Point", and other titles, none of them were colorized.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: From early 1995 to early 1997, THE also distributed home video releases from New Line Home Video, taking over from Columbia TriStar Home Video as well as distributing PBS programs on home video the year before (taking over from the defunct Pacific Arts). NLHE distributed New Line films on video by itself from 1997 until the Warner Bros. New Line Cinema merger in 2008. PBS shows are now distributed on video and DVD by PBS's own distribution company, PBS Distribution.


title: Turner Entertainment

text: In 1995, THE entered a distribution deal with Columbia TriStar Home Video in France, Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the deal expired in 1997 (although some films released on VHS by THE are distributed in the UK by First Independent Films).


title: Turner Entertainment

text: Upon the Turner-Time Warner merger, THE was absorbed into Warner Home Video as an in-name-only unit in December 1996. However, Turner Classic Movies does release special edition DVD boxsets of films from both the Turner and Warner catalogs under the TCM label. (Some magazines, most notably "Starlog," when listing upcoming releases from Warner related to Cartoon Network programming listed it as being released by THE, likely to differentiate it from other, adult-oriented titles.)


title: Osamake

text: , abbreviated as , is a Japanese romantic comedy light novel series written by Shūichi Nimaru and illustrated by Ui Shigure. A manga adaptation with art by Ryō Itō has been serialized in Media Factory's "seinen" manga magazine "Monthly Comic Alive" since November 2019. An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo aired from April to June 2021.


title: Osamake

text: Sueharu Maru is a seventeen-year-old high school boy who has never had a girlfriend. He lives next door to his childhood friend Kuroha Shida, a small and cute Onee-san type of girl with an outgoing character. One day, Kuroha confesses to Sueharu, but he rejects her; Sueharu only has eyes for his first love, Shirokusa Kachi, who is a beautiful idol and an award-winning author in school. Shirokusa is indifferent to all boys in school but Sueharu, which makes Sueharu think that he might have a chance. When Sueharu decides to confess his feelings, he is devastated to find out that Shirokusa already has a boyfriend. Kuroha approaches Sueharu, offering to help him get revenge on Shirokusa and her boyfriend.


title: Osamake

text: The names of the characters are references to characters in "Fire Emblem": for instance, Maru, Shida, Kachi, Kai and Maria are named after Marth, Sheeda, Catria, Cain and Maria respectively. The names of the female characters include colors: for instance, Kuroha (lit. "black feather/wing"), Shirokusa (lit. "white grass"), Momosaka (lit. "pink slope/hill"), Asagi (lit. "pale/shallow yellow"), Midori (lit. "green"), Aoi (lit. "blue-"i""), Akane (lit. "red sound") and Shion (lit. "purple garden").


title: Osamake

text: The series is written by Shūichi Nimaru and illustrated by Ui Shigure. ASCII Media Works has begun publishing the series under their Dengeki Bunko imprint since June 2019. A total of ten volumes have been released as of October 2022.


title: Osamake

text: A manga adaptation by Ryō Itō began serialization in Media Factory's "Monthly Comic Alive" in November 2019, with five "tankōbon" volumes were published so far.


title: Osamake

text: A spin-off manga series illustrated by Mutsumi Aoki titled "Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Come: Otonari no Yon-shimai ga Zettai ni Honobono suru Nichijō" ("Daily Lives Where the Four-Sister Neighbour Absolutely Will Make You Warm") began serialization in Media Factory's "Monthly Comic Alive" on January 27, 2021. Two "tankōbon" volume was published so far.


title: Osamake

text: An anime television series adaptation was announced on October 3, 2020. The series was animated by Doga Kobo and directed by Takashi Naoya, with Yoriko Tomita handling series' composition. Naoya also designed the characters. It aired from April 14 to June 30, 2021 on AT-X and other channels. Riko Azuna performed the series' opening theme song "Chance! & Revenge!", while Inori Minase and Ayane Sakura performed the series' ending theme song "Senryakuteki de Yosō Funō na Love Comedy no Ending Tema Kyoku" (lit. "An Ending Theme Song for a Tactically Unpredictable Romantic Comedy"). Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication has licensed the series in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and will stream it on their Muse Asia YouTube channel and Bilibili. The series ran for 12 episodes.


title: Osamake

text: The light novel ranked fifth in 2020 in Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book "Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!", in the "bunkobon" category. As of October 2020, over 500,000 copies have been sold.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The former British no. 1 reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 4 on 17 July 2017. She reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Born to Hungarian parents in Sydney, Australia, Konta moved to England when she was 14. She has treble citizenship: Hungarian, Australian and British. She switched her sporting allegiance from Australia to Great Britain after she became a British citizen in May 2012.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta achieved a steep rise in her WTA ranking from the spring of 2015 to late 2016, climbing from 150th to inside the world's top ten, becoming the first Briton to be ranked amongst the WTA's top ten since Jo Durie was ranked fifth over 30 years prior. This period included her best Grand Slam result up to that time, the semi-finals of the 2016 Australian Open, a quarter-final appearance at the Rio Summer Olympics and her maiden WTA title in Stanford. In 2017, she won the Miami Open and reached the semi-final at Wimbledon. Konta had another successful season in 2019, reaching the semi-finals at the French Open and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. Konta retired on 1 December 2021, after struggling with a long-term right knee injury which led to her ranking dropping outside the top 100.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Johanna Konta was born in Sydney, Australia, on 17 May 1991, the daughter of Hungarian parents Gábor, a hotel manager, and Gabriella, a dentist. Her parents had emigrated separately from Hungary and met in Australia. One of Konta's grandfathers, Tamás Kertész (1929–1989), played football for Ferencvárosi TC; he won two international caps for Hungary in the 1950s and later coached the Ghana national team. Konta has a half sister, Eva Mumford, from her father's previous marriage. Her sister is married to former Australian rules football player Shane Mumford.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's childhood was spent in Collaroy on Sydney's Northern Beaches, where she was introduced to tennis at an after-school programme at the age of eight. When she was 14, she attended the Sánchez-Casal Tennis Academy in Barcelona for 15 months, during which time her parents settled in Eastbourne, England.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta became a British citizen in May 2012 and concurrently switched her sporting allegiance from Australia to Great Britain. When her nationality became the subject of debate at the 2016 Australian Open after she was labelled a Plastic Brit, Konta said it was "a compliment for you guys to be interested in my Australian roots", but that she was "very pleased to be representing Great Britain ... where I grew up essentially". Konta has three passports – British, Australian and Hungarian.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta lives in East Sussex, where her applications to build a home in the protected Ashdown Forest have proved controversial.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Two weeks after her retirement from professional tennis, Konta announced on Twitter that she had married her long-term boyfriend Jackson Wade. The wedding took place on 11 December 2021, and on September 12, 2022, she announced on her social accounts, the birth of her daughter Emmeline Konta-Wade.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta won her first ITF singles title at a $10k tournament in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina shortly before her 17th birthday in May 2008. She commented that the best was yet to come.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta achieved a significant breakthrough at a $25k tournament in Sutton, England, in February 2009. Entering as a wildcard, she defeated the top seed, Corinna Dentoni, who was ranked 153 at the time, and two other top 250 players to reach the final where she lost in three sets to Katie O'Brien. Konta backed this performance up by winning the $25k Waterloo Challenger in Ontario in June, over Heidi El Tabakh.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta then went through a difficult time in the second half of the year, losing her first match in eight of the nine tournaments entered, six of these losses going to three sets. However, with the help of the earlier results, she rose from 668 to 360 in the WTA rankings during the year.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta regained some form at the start of 2010. In May, she reached the quarterfinal of the $50k tournament at Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. The following week she took the title on the green clay courts of Raleigh, North Carolina, another $50k tournament, where, the day before her 19th birthday, she defeated Lindsay Lee-Waters in the final.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Highlights later in the year included another $50k quarterfinal appearance, two semifinal appearances in $25k tournaments and her second ITF singles title of the year at a $10k event in Westende, Belgium, where, in the final, she defeated Nicky Van Dyck for the loss of just one game. Konta also played her first WTA Tour event when she entered the qualifying for Copenhagen, winning a match before exiting the event.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In April 2011, she lost in three sets in the qualifying draw of Charleston to Sania Mirza. She also fell in qualifying at Fes and Strasbourg. She reached the main draw of a WTA Tour event for the first time when she qualified at Copenhagen in June, falling in the first round to fourth seed Lucie Šafářová, who was ranked 38 at the time, in a match that lasted over two and a half hours.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta won her fifth ITF singles title at the GB Pro-Series event in Woking in July. In the final against Laura Robson, Konta was a set up when her opponent retired.


title: Johanna Konta

text: After a patchy couple of months interrupted by injury, Konta got back to her winning ways at a $10k event in Madrid, beating Lucy Brown in the final. However, her year ended during a second meeting with Robson in the first round at Barnstaple in October, with Konta having to retire this time. She slipped from 248 to 305 in the world rankings over the course of the season, and showed an improvement of only 55 places over the previous two years.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta achieved some welcome results in the first half of 2012, including a $25k title at Rancho Mirage in February. She then qualified for the WTA Tour event in Copenhagen for the second successive year, recording her first-match win in a full tour main draw over seventh seed Ksenia Pervak (then ranked 38) in the opening round, before losing to Petra Martić at the next stage. By the end of April, Konta had risen nearly 100 places to No. 211 in the rankings.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Having been granted British citizenship in May, Konta received a main-draw wildcard to Wimbledon; she faced 28th seed Christina McHale in the opening round, being beaten 10–8 in the deciding set.


title: Johanna Konta

text: A $50k final appearance at Lexington in July helped to maintain momentum, and the following month Konta qualified for the US Open, bridging a gap of almost 150 places in the rankings to upset world No. 59, Tímea Babos, in the first round, saving ten set points in the second set as she recorded her first career win at Grand Slam-level. In the second round, Konta let a 5–2 final set lead slip against Olga Govortsova and lost. This run propelled her into the world's top 150 for the first time in her career, slipping a few places to end the year with a ranking of 153.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the Australian Open, Konta failed to build on her form from the US Open, losing in the second qualifying round to Zhou Yimiao of China, in three sets.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In February, Konta made her Fed Cup debut for Great Britain in Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 Pool B. Konta and Laura Robson won their doubles match as Britain opened with a whitewash against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Konta was then rested as Britain beat Portugal, before teaming up again with Robson in a losing doubles effort against Hungary, though Britain ultimately won this tie 2–1.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In April, Konta played in the Fed Cup World Group II play-off against Argentina. Konta was initially nominated to represent Britain in two of the singles rubbers. However, after losing her opening match against Paula Ormaechea, Great Britain captain Judy Murray decided that Elena Baltacha would replace Konta in the Sunday reverse singles.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's next tournament was the Portugal Open in Oeiras, where she beat top-100 player Yulia Putintseva in the first qualifying round but was then forced to retire in the second qualifying round against Stéphanie Foretz Gacon. Konta also reached the second qualifying round at the French Open, losing to Galina Voskoboeva in three sets.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In June, Konta entered the Nottingham Trophy, a $75k tournament, reaching the semifinals after victories over An-Sophie Mestach, fifth seed Misaki Doi and Alison Riske. In the semifinals, Konta lost a tough battle against third seed Karolína Plíšková, going down in three sets. Following the event, she was handed a wildcard for the Birmingham Classic. In the first round Konta defeated qualifier Kurumi Nara to set up a meeting with French player Kristina Mladenovic, the 12th seed at the tournament, who beat her in straight sets.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta also received a wildcard for Wimbledon, where she was drawn against 16th seed Jelena Janković in the first round. She lost in straight sets against the Serbian former world number one.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Following Wimbledon, Konta started her build-up to the US Open by winning a $25k event in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she defeated fellow British player Samantha Murray in the final. She then kept up her form by winning the Vancouver Open, a $100k event, where she defeated Sharon Fichman in the final after eliminating top seed and world No. 41, Hsieh Su-wei, along the way. This propelled Konta to a then career-high ranking of 115.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the Guangzhou International Open, Konta won two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. In the first round, she beat fellow qualifier Richèl Hogenkamp in straight sets, before upsetting fourth seed and world No. 38, Peng Shuai, equaling her best career-win in terms of ranking to this point. However, her run was stopped in the quarterfinals, losing to wild card Zhang Shuai in straight sets. A week later, at the Ningbo International Open, Konta made the quarterfinals again, but was forced to retire in her match against Johanna Larsson, suffering from an abdominal strain.


title: Johanna Konta

text: She officially became the British No. 2 behind Laura Robson, after Heather Watson failed to defend her title in Osaka and ended the year ranked 112.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta began 2014 at the Shenzhen Open, losing to 15-year-old wildcard Xu Shilin in the first qualifying round. Together with her Austrian partner Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, she reached the semifinals in doubles, losing to the Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok, in straight sets. The following week, seeded third in Australian Open qualifying, Konta won her first match against Grace Min, but lost for the second year in succession in the second qualifying round, in straight sets to Ukrainian Olga Savchuk.


title: Johanna Konta

text: After retiring in her first-round match at a $25k event in Sunderland and losing in qualifying for the Open GdF Suez in Paris, Konta helped Great Britain to a 2–1 win over Latvia in their first round-robin match at the Fed Cup as she battled to victory over Diāna Marcinkēviča. However, she later lost singles rubbers to Romania's world No. 10, Simona Halep, and Hungary's Tímea Babos as Britain were eliminated at the pool stage.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In May, Konta reached the final qualifying round of Roland Garros for the first time, defeating Sachia Vickery, and Paula Kania, before losing to Yuliya Beygelzimer.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta then moved into the grass-court season by playing at the Birmingham Classic as a wildcard. She beat 14th seed Kurumi Nara in straight sets, before losing to Aleksandra Wozniak in the second round.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta was awarded another wildcard to compete at the Eastbourne International, where she defeated 2013 Wimbledon junior champion Belinda Bencic, in straight sets. This set up a meeting with world No. 42, Camila Giorgi, who had stunned fourth seed Victoria Azarenka in the first round. Despite holding a match point at 5–4 up in the final set, Konta lost to the Italian. Nevertheless, her first-round success was enough to propel Konta into the top 100 as she reached a career-high of 89 in July, before falling back as she failed to replenish the ranking points won from her successes in the second half of the previous year.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta gained direct entry into the Wimbledon main draw, losing a tight three-set match to Peng Shuai in the first round.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's next tournament was the İstanbul Cup, where she won through qualifying as the top seed. She was again drawn with Kurumi Nara in the first round, losing to the sixth-seeded Japanese in straight sets. She then moved across to North America to play the Connecticut Open; she also encountered a recent opponent here as she faced top seed Peng Shuai in the second qualifying round and was eliminated.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Her ranking gave her a second consecutive direct entry to a Grand Slam main draw as she played the US Open, but she suffered a 'wasted opportunity' as she was beaten in the opening round by Shahar Pe'er.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta then suffered opening-round defeats at Quebec City, and in the qualifying in Luxembourg. She also played on the ITF Circuit, reaching the semifinals at Albuquerque and the second round at Nantes. She ended the year ranked 150.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta began the year by entering the qualifying of the WTA Tour events at Shenzhen and Sydney, but did not manage to progress to either of the main draws. She was also eliminated in qualifying at the Australian Open. Konta returned to Europe to join up with the British team for the Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I. She went 2–2 in singles play as Britain topped their round-robin pool, before losing a play-off to Belarus. In the play-off, Konta suffered a heavy defeat against Olga Govortsova, a match that team captain Judy Murray said 'was a catalyst for change' for Konta's success in the later part of the season.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Her sole WTA Tour event between the Australian and French Opens was at Indian Wells, where she again entered the qualifying competition, winning her opening match against tenth seed Misaki Doi, but being beaten in the final round of qualifying by Kateryna Kozlova. During this period she focused instead on the ITF Circuit, winning her first-round match in each tournament she entered, reaching three quarterfinals, one semifinal and the final of the event in Jackson, Mississippi (lost to Anhelina Kalinina).


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta made her debut in the main draw at the French Open against Denisa Allertová after she won her way through qualifying without losing a set. Konta narrowly lost to Allertová. Konta then returned to the UK, where she was granted wildcards to the WTA Tour grass-court events in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne. At Nottingham, Konta recorded her first top 100 win of 2015 in the opening round as she beat world No. 59 and seventh seed for the event, Magdaléna Rybáriková. Konta would also beat Monica Puig before exiting in the quarterfinals to eventual tournament runner-up Monica Niculescu. Konta then played the WTA Premier event in Birmingham. She beat Jarmila Gajdošová in the first round before running into sixth seed Karolína Plíšková; Konta took the opening set off Plíšková, then ranked 13 in the world, but would eventually lose in three sets in a match played over two days. Konta's conqueror ended the tournament as the runner-up for the second week in a row.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's next event was in her hometown of Eastbourne. In the opening round, she upset Zarina Diyas, before claiming a 'major scalp' by beating world No. 8 and recent Grand Slam semifinalist, Ekaterina Makarova, who was the fourth seed for the event, in the second round. Konta continued her run by beating 14th seed Garbiñe Muguruza, before losing to Belinda Bencic in a three-set quarterfinal. Bencic became the third consecutive player to beat Konta en route to the final of an event, as the rising Swiss star won the Eastbourne title.


title: Johanna Konta

text: The draw for Wimbledon paired Konta, who entered with a wildcard, with former champion Maria Sharapova. The match was scheduled for Centre Court, with Sharapova winning efficiently. After Wimbledon, Konta returned to action at the ITF event in Granby, Quebec; she entered as the top seed, and took the title without dropping a set. Konta's next event saw her reclaim the Vancouver singles crown, beating Kirsten Flipkens in the final, and also secure the doubles title with Maria Sanchez.


title: Johanna Konta

text: The Vancouver singles victory moved Konta back into the world top-100 players ahead of the US Open, which she entered at the qualifying stage as the third seed. She progressed to the main draw with wins against Réka Luca Jani, Naomi Osaka and Tamira Paszek. Prior to this, Konta had won just one Grand Slam main draw match in her career, but now added victories over Louisa Chirico, ninth seed Muguruza, and 18th seed Andrea Petkovic, extending her winning streak to 16 matches and setting up a last-16 meeting with two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová. The match against Muguruza lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes, the longest women's match at the US Open since the tie-break was introduced in 1970. It was also Konta's second top-ten win, and increased her head-to-head record against the Spaniard to 2–0. Czech fifth seed Kvitová ended Konta's run, winning in two tight sets. The points accrued during the North American swing lifted Konta to a new career-high singles ranking of world No. 58.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's first event after the US Open was the Wuhan Open, a Premier-5 event, the second highest level on the WTA Tour. Having won through qualifying, Konta was drawn against Andrea Petkovic in the opening round, a rematch of their New York meeting. She won once again to advance to a second-round encounter with Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, who retired after losing the first set. In the third round, Konta faced top seed and world No. 2, Simona Halep, who came into the match leading the WTA in hardcourt victories. Halep established a 5–1 lead in the deciding set, only for Konta to


title: Johanna Konta

text: take six consecutive games as she came back to win. She exited in the quarterfinals after a three-set battle with Venus Williams, who would go on to win the tournament. Konta's run in Wuhan saw her break into the top 50 for the first time, as her ranking reached another new career high at world No. 49. She also took over from Heather Watson as the British number one.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's final event of the season was the Linz Open. She entered in qualifying, where she was the top seed, but lost to Klára Koukalová in the final round, her first defeat against a lower-ranked player since May. However, Konta received an entry to the main draw despite the loss, as she was awarded a lucky loser spot after Anna Karolína Schmiedlová withdrew due to illness. She eased past Annika Beck in the opening round, but went out at the next stage to Madison Brengle. Her year-end ranking was 47. Konta's successful year was recognized by being nominated at the annual WTA Awards. She was a finalist in the Most Improved Player category, but missed out on the award to French Open semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta had a slow start to 2016 as she was eliminated in the first round at Shenzhen, where she was the fifth seed (her first seeding at WTA Tour level) and also at Hobart.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's next event saw her make her main-draw debut at the Australian Open. In the opening round she faced Venus Williams, who was seeded eighth. The match was played on Rod Laver Arena, with Konta winning in straight sets. Konta backed up her win by beating Zheng Saisai and Denisa Allertová, setting up a fourth-round clash with 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova. Konta recovered from a set behind to defeat the Russian and reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Konta defeated qualifier Zhang Shuai in the last-eight before her run ultimately came to an end in the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets. Nonetheless, she became the first British female player to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal in 32 years. Konta also teamed up with countrywoman Heather Watson to play the doubles. They beat a seeded pair in the opening round before exiting at the next stage. Konta was at new career highs in the post-tournament rankings, moving up to world No. 28 for singles and breaking into the top 100 for the first time in doubles, at world No. 95. She also passed the $1 million mark for career earnings.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta took a brief break due to illness following the Australian Open, returning to action for the spring North American hardcourt swing. She was the fourth seed for the Mexican Open in Acapulco, where she exited in the second round, and also for the Monterrey Open, where she reached the quarterfinals and lost to Kirsten Flipkens. Konta then moved to the United States to participate in the Premier-Mandatory events, the highest level on the WTA Tour, at Indian Wells and Miami. She was seeded 25th at Indian Wells, which gave her a bye into the second round where she defeated Madison Brengle. Konta then beat Denisa Allertová, before exiting in the fourth round to 18th seed Karolína Plíšková. Konta moved on to Miami, where she was seeded 24th, which again saw her benefit from a bye to the second round. Wins over Danka Kovinić and Elena Vesnina took Konta to the last 16, where she beat 32nd seed Monica Niculescu. She lost in the quarterfinals to Victoria Azarenka, who was en route to completing the Indian Wells/Miami Double. Konta's form in North America saw her rise to a new career-high ranking of 21.


title: Johanna Konta

text: The WTA Tour then made its spring switch to clay. Konta had a disappointing start on the surface as she lost her opening match in Stuttgart, before retiring with illness during the first round in Madrid. Her form improved in Rome as she beat Johanna Larsson and then upset world number seven Roberta Vinci, before exiting in the third round to Misaki Doi. Konta moved on to Paris for the French Open. She was 20th seed, the first time she had been seeded at a Grand Slam, but was eliminated in the opening round by Julia Görges.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta entered the grass-court season as world No. 18 as her ranking climbed to a new high despite her opening-round loss at Roland Garros. After early losses at the Nottingham Open and the Birmingham Classic, Konta reached the semifinal in Eastbourne, the site of her breakout performance in 2015. Her run included a victory over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová in the third round, but was ended in the last four by Karolína Plíšková.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta was the first home player to be seeded in the ladies singles at Wimbledon in over 30 years as she took the No. 16 spot. She recorded her first ever win at the venue by beating Monica Puig in a rain-affected opening round match, but went out at the next stage to former finalist Eugenie Bouchard. Following Wimbledon, Konta changed surface to hardcourts to play the Stanford Classic. In the semifinals she beat Dominika Cibulková, who had led the WTA in match wins at the time. Konta then defeated two-time former champion Venus Williams in the final to claim her first WTA title. The following week, she reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, the women's portion of which was held in Montreal. She was within one victory of breaking into the top ten, but missed out on the landmark after suffering a surprise defeat to Kristina Kučová.


title: Johanna Konta

text: The Rio Olympics was Konta's next event, as she represented Britain in singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. She was seeded tenth in singles, easing past Stephanie Vogt (Liechtenstein) and Caroline Garcia (France) in the first and second round respectively. Konta reached the quarterfinals after she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) in the third round, but was knocked out in the last eight by Angelique Kerber (Germany). Konta partnered Heather Watson in doubles, reaching the second round before exiting to Chinese Taipei (Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan). She teamed up with Jamie Murray in the mixed, losing in the opening round to the eventual gold medallists (the United States pairing of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock).


title: Johanna Konta

text: After Rio, the WTA Tour resumed with the Cincinnati Open. Konta reached the third round before going out to Agnieszka Radwańska. She moved on to the US Open recording victories in the opening two rounds over Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Tsvetana Pironkova. The win over Pironkova came despite a health scare towards the end of the second set, Konta collapsing on court and requiring medical attention before she could continue. Konta took just 52 minutes to beat 24th seed Belinda Bencic in the third-round, matching her run to the last 16 from the previous year. She was eliminated at that stage by Anastasija Sevastova.


title: Johanna Konta

text: The final weeks of the season saw Konta with the opportunity of breaking into the top ten and qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time. Her first event on the Far Eastern leg of the WTA Tour was the Wuhan Open. A repeat of her Australian Open quarterfinal victory over Zhang Shuai took Konta to the third round. There she defeated Carla Suárez Navarro to record her fifth top ten win of 2016 and set up a last-eight meeting with Petra Kvitová, where she was knocked out of the competition. The following week saw Konta in Beijing for the China Open. She was drawn to face Sevastova in the opening round in a re-match of their US Open meeting of a few weeks prior, Konta gaining revenge for the defeat in New York. Victory over Tímea Babos at the next stage set up a third-round clash with Karolína Plíšková, which Konta won, reversing a previous 0–5 head-to-head record against the Czech. Konta progressed to the semifinal by beating Chinese number one, Zhang Shuai, for the second successive week. She defeated Madison Keys in the last four to reach her first Premier Mandatory final. Victory over Keys saw Konta enter the top ten for the first time in her career, making her the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1984 to be ranked amongst the elite of the WTA. It also lifted her into a qualifying place for the WTA Finals. Konta was beaten in the final by Agnieszka Radwańska.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta attempted to consolidate her Tour Finals place in Hong Kong, but an abdominal strain forced her to pull out of her second-round match. She slipped outside the qualifying spots when Dominika Cibulková won the tournament in Linz, which secured the last place for the Slovak. However, the subsequent withdrawal of Serena Williams gave Konta another chance. She had already travelled to Singapore to practice, only to be pipped for the final place less than 24 hours before the start of the event when Svetlana Kuznetsova won the title in Moscow. Konta remained at the venue as an alternate, but was unused. If Konta was to have qualified in the Tour Finals, she would become the first British woman since Jo Durie in the 1984 Virginia Slims Championships. Following her eventual absence from the WTA Finals' lineup, Konta entered the WTA Elite Trophy a week later in Zhuhai, China. She was placed in the Azalea Group alongside Sam Stosur and Caroline Garcia. Konta opened with a win over Stosur that guaranteed she would finish the season ranked inside the WTA's top ten, the first Briton to achieve this since 1983. She then beat Garcia to top the group and progress to a semifinal against Elina Svitolina, which Svitolina won to end Konta's season.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta led the 2016 WTA Tour in points won behind second serve, and sat third for top-ten wins, hardcourt-match wins and tie-breaks won. She also featured in the top ten of a number of other statistical categories. Konta was nominated as one of the WTA's Most Improved Players for the second successive year, winning the award comfortably on this occasion with over 80% of the vote. Her end-of-season ranking was No. 10.


title: Johanna Konta

text: After the conclusion of the season, Konta announced that she was parting company with her coaching team of Esteban Carril and Jose-Manuel Garcia, despite her 'stellar year'.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta started working with Belgian coach Wim Fissette during pre-season training. Their professional relationship began with Konta's reaching the semifinals of her first event of the new campaign in Shenzhen, before being beaten in the last-four by eventual champion, Kateřina Siniaková. The following week in Sydney, she claimed her second WTA title, avenging her Beijing loss to world number three Agnieszka Radwańska in the final. Konta did not lose a set in the entire tournament.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Ahead of the Australian Open Konta was widely regarded as a contender for the title. She recorded victories over Kirsten Flipkens, Naomi Osaka, former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, where she hit 31 winners to six and did not face a single break point on serve, and 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set. Konta was then beaten in the last eight by the eventual champion, Serena Williams.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Her next action was in the Fed Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I. Konta won her three singles matches in the round-robin pool as Britain reached a promotion play-off against Croatia. In the play-off Konta suffered a surprise singles defeat against Ana Konjuh, but then teamed up with Heather Watson to beat Konjuh and Darija Jurak in the decisive doubles and send Britain forward to a World Group II play-off later in the year.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Watson went from teammate to opponent as Konta won an all-British clash in the second round at Indian Wells, before exiting at the next stage against Caroline Garcia. The WTA Tour then traversed the United States to Miami, where Konta progressed to a quarterfinal meeting with third seed Simona Halep. Halep was twice two points from victory, when serving for the match at 5–4 in the second set and again in the subsequent tie-break, but both times Konta recovered and eventually won in three sets. She then defeated Venus Williams in the semifinal to progress through to her second Premier Mandatory final. There, she defeated Wozniacki to win the biggest title of her career to date, ensuring her re-entry into the WTA's top ten at a new career-high ranking of No. 7. With Premier Mandatory events second only to Grand Slams in terms prestige, some commentators rated Konta's Miami triumph as the most notable title for a British women since Virginia Wade had won Wimbledon 40 years previously.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Following her Miami triumph, Konta returned to Europe and joined back-up with the British Fed Cup team as they travelled to face Romania in the World Group II Play-offs. The tie was marked by a number of incidents involving Romanian captain Ilie Năstase, culminating in him being first removed from the court and then having his accreditation revoked, effectively excluding him from the venue for the remainder of the tie, after he verbally abused Konta and British team skipper Anne Keothavong during the former's opening day singles rubber against Sorana Cîrstea. Konta broke down in tears over the abuse following Nastase's ejection, with play being suspended to allow her time to compose herself. Konta had been trailing in the second set prior to the interruption, but on resumption won five successive games to overturn the deficit and win the match, which levelled the tie at one rubber each. Konta subsequently lost to Simona Halep as Romania won by three rubbers to two. Năstase was later fined and banned for his behavior.


title: Johanna Konta

text: In the wake of the controversial Fed Cup tie Konta returned to WTA play for the clay-court season. Her first event on the surface was at Stuttgart, where she was eliminated in the second round by Anastasija Sevastova. She also lost in the opening round in Madrid to Laura Siegemund, and the third round in Rome to Venus Williams. Konta was seeded seventh in the French Open, but was upset by Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei the first round. She remained yet to win a main draw match in Paris.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta began the grass-court swing in Nottingham, where she was the top seed. She reached the final, her first at Tour level on home soil and on grass, but was upset by Donna Vekić in the title match. The following week saw Konta eliminated in the second round in Birmingham. She then competed at the Eastbourne International. Following a bye into the second round, Konta beat Sorana Cîrstea, French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko and world No. 1, Angelique Kerber, to reach the semifinals. She pulled out of the tournament on the morning of her semifinal because of a back injury she sustained in her quarterfinal match against Kerber, raising questions over her fitness for Wimbledon the following week.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta showed no ill-effects of the injury as she faced Hsieh Su-wei in the opening round of a Grand Slam championship for the second time in a row, defeating her in straight sets. In the second round, she recorded a three-set victory over Donna Vekić in a rematch of the Nottingham final. Wins against Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia saw Konta reach the quarterfinals, where she defeated second seed Simona Halep, denying Halep the world No. 1 ranking and becoming the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon singles semifinals since Virginia Wade in 1978. She was beaten in the last four by Venus Williams. Konta's ranking reached a new career high of world number four.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Having opted to skip the defence of her Stanford title, Konta began her North American hard court swing in Toronto. Her opening match was against Ekaterina Makarova, which she lost despite holding match points in the second set. The following week in Cincinnati, she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Kiki Bertens and Dominika Cibulková, before losing to Simona Halep in the quarterfinal.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta then lost her first match in her next four tournaments. She lost to Aleksandra Krunić at the US Open, to Barbora Strýcová in Tokyo, to Ashleigh Barty in Wuhan and to Monica Niculescu in Beijing. As a result, on 9 October her ranking had fallen to No. 10. After withdrawing from the Kremlin Cup in Moscow as a result of a foot injury, she narrowly missed out on qualification for the WTA Finals for the second year running, with Caroline Garcia claiming the final spot at the year-end championships. On 18 October, Konta revealed that she and coach Wim Fissette would be parting and she would be ending her season, passing up being a reserve for the Finals or playing in the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. She confirmed the rest of her team would remain the same and she would be looking for a new coach "as soon as possible", and thanked Fissette for his "patience, hard work and expertise". Konta's end-of-season ranking was No. 9.


title: Johanna Konta

text: For being the first woman since 1978 to reach the Wimbledon semifinal and the first to win a Premier Mandatory title, Konta was nominated for the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, placing 11th of the 12 nominees on the public's vote.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta hired Michael Joyce as her new coach during the off-season. In her first tournament of the year in Brisbane, Konta reached her first quarterfinal since August 2017 before retiring with a hip injury. She was unable to defend her title at Sydney the following week, losing in the first round. At the Australian Open, Konta was knocked out in the second round by world No. 123, lucky loser Bernarda Pera.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Following the Australian Open, Konta played for Britain in the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Group 1. Following a straightforward win over Maria João Koehler, Konta 'survived a scare' to beat Anett Kontaveit as Britain beat hosts Estonia to set up a play-off against Hungary. Konta beat Fanny Stollár as Britain progressed to the World Group II play-offs. Britain were hoping to be drawn at home for the first time since 1993, but instead were handed a tie away to Japan.


title: Johanna Konta

text: On resuming WTA play, Konta was eliminated prior to the quarterfinals of her next three tournaments, before failing to defend her title in Miami, losing in the fourth round to Venus Williams. She also exited early in the clay-court event at Charleston.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta next played in Britain's Fed Cup tie with Japan. She won both her singles rubbers, beating Kurumi Nara and recently crowned Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka. However Britain were beaten in the other two singles rubbers to send the tie to a deciding doubles. Konta and Heather Watson were brought in as late replacements to play this, and though they won the opening set against the Japanese pairing of Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya, the hosts fought back to win the rubber and claim overall victory.


title: Johanna Konta

text: After the Fed Cup Konta returned to clay court action. Her struggles on the surface continued as she suffered an early defeat in Madrid. Her form picked up in Rome, where she reached the third round before exiting to Jeļena Ostapenko. Konta lost in the first round of the French Open to No. 93 Yulia Putintseva in straight sets. At the time, she had never won a main-draw match at the French Open and in her post-match press conference she launched a scathing attack on the media.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Grass brought an upturn as Konta reached her first final of the year in Nottingham, after defeating defending champion Donna Vekić in the semifinals in a rerun of the 2017 final of the same event. She was looking to become the first British player to win a WTA Tour level title on home soil since Sue Barker in 1981, but was beaten in the final by Ashleigh Barty. However the resurgence in form was temporary as following this Konta suffered a first round loss in Birmingham, a second round loss in Eastbourne, and a second round loss at Wimbledon. Post-Wimbledon, her ranking dropped to 50 – her lowest since September 2015.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's first tournament after Wimbledon was in San Jose. She was paired her with multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the first round and handed Williams the heaviest defeat of her career, the Briton winning 6–1, 6–0. She then beat Sofia Kenin, before losing to fourth seed Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals. She followed this by reaching the third round in Canadian Open, before losing to Elina Svitolina and then losing in the first round of Cincinnati to Aryna Sabalenka. Konta's struggles had seen ranking had slip outside the top 32, leading to her being drawn against sixth seed Caroline Garcia in the opening round of the US Open; she lost to continue a poor run of form in Grand Slam matches since her Wimbledon semifinal run of the previous year.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Post the US Open Konta entered the Pan Pacific Open in Japan where she lost in the second round to Donna Vekić in two tight sets. She lost to Ashleigh Barty in the first round of the Wuhan. She also lost to Julia Görges in the opening round of the Beijing. Following these defeats Konta split with coach Michael Joyce and agreed a trial with Dimitri Zavialoff for the final event of the regular WTA season in Moscow. This provided an upbeat ending for Konta as she defeated Elise Mertens, Daria Gavrilova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich to reach her second semifinal of the year. She lost to Daria Kasatkina in the last four, who went on to win the tournament. This run moved Konta's end-of-year ranking up to 39 in the world. Following the successful trial at the Kremlin Cup, Konta hired Zavialoff as her coach on a permanent basis.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta started the year at the Brisbane International by defeating third seed Sloane Stephens before losing to Ajla Tomljanović in the second round. She received a lucky loser berth from qualifying for the Sydney International but withdrew with a neck injury. At the Australian Open she defeated Tomljanovic in a rematch of their Brisbane meeting, before losing in the second round to Muguruza in a marathon three set match that had the latest start in Australian Open history and ended after 3am local time.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's next played the Fed Cup. Britain's ties in Europe/Africa Group 1 took place in Bath after the LTA were awarded co-hosting rights. This was the first time that the British Fed Cup team had played on home soil in 26 years. Konta recorded wins over Dalila Jakupović, Maria Sakkari and Anna Bondár as Britain topped their opening round pool with a 100% record to set up a promotional play-off with Serbia. Following a victory for teammate Katie Boulter in the opening rubber, Konta beat Aleksandra Krunić in a dramatic match to seal Britain's progress to a World Group play-off despite collapsing off-court after the end of the second set and requiring a medical timeout. Konta won a Fed Cup Heart Award for her efforts.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta opted not to play in either Doha or Dubai, instead returning to WTA action for the North American spring hardcourt swing. Her first event was in Acapulco where she defeated Laura Siegemund in the first round, followed by victory over Varvara Flink before losing in the quarterfinals to Donna Vekić. At Indian Wells, she defeated Pauline Parmentier and 27th seed Hsieh Su-wei, but went out to Kiki Bertens in the third round. In Miami, she lost in the second round to Wang Qiang of China.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta returned to Europe to rejoin Britain's Fed Cup team for their World Group II play-off against Kazakhstan. This was played at the Copper Box Arena in London. It was the first time the venue had hosted international team Tennis. In the play-off Konta twice recovered from a set down to beat Zarina Diyas and Yulia Putintseva. Konta's two victories took her winning run in Fed Cup singles play up to 11 matches. Teammate Boulter completed Britain's victory by three rubbers to one as she beat Diyas. Britain were therefore promoted to World Group II for 2020.


title: Johanna Konta

text: After returning from Fed Cup duties Konta entered the Morocco Open as the seventh seed. She saved three match points during her first round match against Wang Yafan before rallying to outlast the Chinese player in three sets and progress to a second round encounter with Ana Bogdan. She beat Bogdan and followed that by ousting Hsieh, the tournament's second seed, to reach the semifinals. There she defeated Tomljanovic to reach her first ever clay-court final; Konta lost in the final to Maria Sakkari despite being a set and a break up.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the Madrid Open, she defeated American Alison Riske to advance to a second-round match against third seed Simona Halep, which she lost in straight sets. The following week in Rome, Konta once again defeated Riske in the first round, moving on to face seventh seed Sloane Stephens. She lost the first set, however came back to win in three. Her third round match came later the same day due to a rain delay. She defeated Venus Williams to move into her first Premier level clay court quarterfinal. Konta defeated Czech teenager Markéta Vondroušová to reach the semifinals. Konta advanced to the final after defeating Madrid Open champion Bertens; in the final, she was beaten by Karolína Plíšková, in straight sets. Following her Italian Open run, Konta's ranking improved to 26 in the world, securing her a seeding at the upcoming French Open.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta came to the French Open having not won a main-draw match at the venue in four previous attempts. She finally broke her 'curse' by beating Antonia Lottner in the first round, and went on to advance to the semifinals. Her run included victory over Vekic in the fourth round and a third win of the year against Stephens in the quarterfinals. By reaching the semifinals, Konta became the first British female player to reach that stage of the French Open since Jo Durie in 1983. Konta was defeated in the semifinal by the unseeded Vondrousova in two tight sets. She returned to the Top 20 in the WTA rankings after this run.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta started her grass-court campaign with a win over Anett Kontaveit in the first round of the Birmingham Classic. She lost to Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. At Eastbourne, Konta reached the third round before losing to Ons Jabeur. She was seeded 19th at Wimbledon and went on to reach the quarterfinals, picking up her fourth win of the season against Stephens and defeating two-time former champion Petra Kvitová en route. Konta was upset in the last eight by Barbora Strýcová.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Despite losing in the first round of both her US Open warm-up events, once at the US Open, Konta went on the best run of her career to date at the venue, beating former top ten player Daria Kasatkina and third seed Karolína Plíšková en route to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Elina Svitolina. She did not play in another tournament following the US Open, and finished the year as No. 12.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Starting her season at the Brisbane International, Konta lost in the first round to Barbora Strýcová. She then participated at the Australian Open, where she suffered a shock first-round exit to Ons Jabeur. Her next tournament was at St. Petersburg, where, in receipt of a first round bye, she lost to qualifier Océane Dodin in the second round. Her next tournament was at Monterrey, where she reached the semifinals, defeating Kim Clijsters, Tatjana Maria, and Anastasia Potapova, before falling to eventual runner-up Marie Bouzková. She was scheduled to play at Indian Wells, but the tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Her first event upon the tour's resumption was at Lexington, where she lost in the first round to Bouzková in straight sets for the second consecutive meeting. She reached the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open, which was held in New York due to the pandemic. She defeated Kirsten Flipkens, Vera Zvonareva, and Maria Sakkari, before falling to the eventual champion, Victoria Azarenka. At the US Open she beat her compatriot Heather Watson in the first round before losing to Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. Her next tournament was at Rome, where she defeated Irina-Camelia Begu, before falling to Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round. She then participated at the French Open, where she lost in the first round to Coco Gauff. She ended the year ranked No. 14 in the world.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne, Konta won her first match of the year against Bernarda Pera, before losing to Irina-Camelia Begu. Australian Open, Konta retired from her first-round match against Kaja Juvan with an abdominal injury. Konta lost in the first round to Shelby Rogers in Adelaide, second round to Petra Kvitová in Miami, second round to Anastasija Sevastova in Madrid, and first round to Jeļena Ostapenko in Rome. Konta lost in the first round of the French Open to Sorana Cîrstea.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta won her first title in four years at the Nottingham Open on grass, beating Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, Kateryna Kozlova, Alison Van Uytvanck and Nina Stojanović to reach the final, where she beat Zhang Shuai in under an hour.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta had to withdraw from Wimbledon because one of her team tested positive for COVID-19, forcing her to endure a quarantine.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the 2021 National Bank Open in Montreal, Konta defeated Zhang Shuai in the first round, following her retirement in the second set. She then played third seed Elina Svitolina in the second round. Konta claimed her first win against Svitolina after losing their first 5 matches. In the third round, Konta was forced to withdraw against Coco Gauff.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta next played in the 2021 Western & Southern Open, but lost in the first round to Karolína Muchová in three sets. She withdrew from the US Open, and she did not play another match for the rest of the season. Her ranking had dropped to No. 82 in October 2021, and, after residual points from the 2019 season were dropped, her ranking fell to No. 113 in the world by 29 November 2021, her lowest ranking since August 2015.


title: Johanna Konta

text: On 1 December 2021, Konta announced her retirement from professional tennis, after suffering from a long-term right knee injury.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta was an aggressive baseliner, with her game centered around her flat, quick, and powerful groundstrokes. Konta was known for creating sharp angles, being able to hit winners from any position on the court. According to WTA match stats in 2016, she was fourth in ace counts, won 62% of her service points, 74.8% of service games and won most of the second serve points at 52.7%. She preferred to attack from the baseline, rather than to come to the net to volley. Konta was often criticized by commentators for a lack of mental toughness and a lack of variety or a "plan B" in tough match situations, but after hiring Dimitri Zavialoff as her coach, she utilised more drop shots and tried to come in more often although she retained an uncomfortable relationship with the net and never looked truly comfortable there. Grass was her favourite surface, but the majority of her success came on hard courts.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta's clothing sponsor was Asics until 2019, when she switched to Ellesse. Her racquet sponsor was Babolat. She endorsed the Babolat Pure Aero range of racquets. In 2017, she became the first UK ambassador of Nature Valley cereal bars as part of their British Tennis partnership. In 2019 British accessories brand Radley named Konta as its second celebrity brand ambassador, as the face of its Radley Spirit campaign. In addition to fronting the Radley Spirit campaign ahead of Wimbledon, Konta also curated a collection of her favourite pieces from the spring/summer 2019 collection, the Johanna Konta collection.


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta initially trained at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona, before her parents decided to settle in Great Britain in 2005, and at the Roddick Lavalle Academy in Texas. She trained at the National Tennis Academy in Roehampton with LTA-supplied coaches Louis Cayer and, from mid-2012, Julien Picot. In December 2012, the Lawn Tennis Association announced that Konta was one of 21 players set to receive the LTA's funding next season, which is supported through Team Aegon.


title: Johanna Konta

text: At the start of 2014, she split from Picot for personal reasons. In August 2014, when the LTA decided to close the National Tennis Centre as a base for elite players, Konta began working with Spanish coach Esteban Carril. At the end of 2014, Konta began receiving help from mental coach Juan Coto, a friend of Carril's based in London. A dramatic cut in her LTA funding for 2015 encouraged Konta to move her training base to Gijón in northern Spain, where Esteban Carril and José Manuel García oversaw an increasingly rapid rise up the rankings. Supporters of the LTA's austerity drive argued this was a benefit of their tough love policy, though Konta disagreed that that was the case. After her mental coach Coto died suddenly in November 2016, Konta maintained that she would continue to benefit from his influence: "He's still very much a part of everything that I do, everything that I will continue to do in this sport and this career. He has gifted me with an incredible amount of tools and habits".


title: Johanna Konta

text: Konta split with Carril and Garcia in December 2016. Prior to the 2017 season, Konta recruited Belgian Wim Fissette to be her main coach. Konta and Fissette mutually ended this partnership in October 2017 after a poor run in the Asian tournaments. Konta retained the rest of her team and said she would spend the off-season looking for a new coach. On 6 December 2017, Konta announced she was hiring Michael Joyce for the 2018 season. On 10 October 2018, Konta announced that she had split with Joyce. She immediately commenced a trial period with Dimitri Zavialoff, a former coach of Stanislas Wawrinka, hiring him on a permanent basis 3 weeks later.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. She is best known for her feature films "Brothers" (2004), "After the Wedding" (2006), "In a Better World" (2010), and "Bird Box" (2018), and the TV miniseries "The Night Manager" (2016) on AMC, "The Undoing" (2020) on HBO, and "The First Lady" (2022) on Showtime. Bier is the first female director to win a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a European Film Award, collectively.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Susanne Bier was born to a Jewish family in Copenhagen, Denmark on 15 April 1960. The family of her father, Rudolf Salomon Baer (born 1930), emigrated from Germany to Denmark in 1933 after Hitler's rise to power. The family of her mother, Heni (née Jonas; born 1936), emigrated to Denmark from Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, to escape rising anti-semitism. In 1943, the two families fled from Denmark to Sweden, together with most Danish Jews, to escape the deportation to the Nazi death camps. Three years after the end of World War II, they returned to Denmark. The effects of the Holocaust caused Bier's parents to instill the strong moral values and principles into their children. Later, the importance of human resilience and dignity would be a recurring theme in her films.


title: Susanne Bier

text: During her schooling, she went to Niels Steensens Gymnasium. In interviews for the media as an adult, Bier describes herself as lacking in social skills as a child, who liked to play football with boys and preferred reading books to interacting with others. After high school, citing a desire to reconnect with her Jewish roots, she studied art at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Later she would study architecture at the Architectural Association in London before finally returning to film and graduating from the National Film School of Denmark in 1987. "De Saliges" (1987), Bier's graduation film, won first prize at the Munich film school festival and was subsequently distributed by Channel Four.


title: Susanne Bier

text: After directing music videos, commercials and the feature films "Freud Flytter Hjemmefra" ("Freud's Leaving Home", 1990), "Det Bli'r i Familien" ("Family Matters", 1993), "Pensionat Oscar" ("Like it Was Never Before", 1995) and "Sekten" ("Credo", 1997), Bier made a breakthrough in her home country of Denmark with the film "The One and Only" in 1999. A romantic comedy about the fragility of life, the film won a clutch of Danish Film Academy awards and established Bier's relationship with actress Paprika Steen. The film remains one of the most successful domestic films ever released in Denmark.


title: Susanne Bier

text: A sidestep from the easy going charm of "Livet är en schlager" ("Once in a Lifetime", 2000), "Elsker dig for evigt" ("Open Hearts", 2002) brought Bier's work to much wider international attention and acclaim. Acutely observed and beautifully written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen, the film is a perceptive and painful exploration of broken lives and interconnected tragedies. Made under Dogme 95 regulations, the film also marked a move towards a more minimalist aesthetic.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Since the completion of "Open Hearts", Bier's reputation has continued to ascend with the harrowing "Brødre" ("Brothers", 2004) and the emotionally engaging "Efter Brylluppet" ("After the Wedding", 2006), which was nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 2007 Academy Awards. After her first American film, "Things We Lost in the Fire" (2008) starring Benicio del Toro and Halle Berry, Bier went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film for "In a Better World" (2010).


title: Susanne Bier

text: In 2012, she returned to romantic comedy with local Danish smash-hit "Den skaldede frisør" ("Love is All You Need") (2012) starring Trine Dyrholm and Pierce Brosnan. And in 2014, she directed her second American feature, dark romantic drama Serena starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, and shortly after followed up with Danish drama "A Second Chance" starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Maria Bonnevie.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Also a maker of shorts, music videos and commercials, Bier's films typically meditate on pain, tragedy, and atonement. Bier is signed as a commercial director with international production company, SMUGGLER.


title: Susanne Bier

text: After graduation, Bier was invited to Sweden to direct "Freud's Leaving Home", which was critically acclaimed by film critics. The film follows a girl, Freud, from Sweden who comes from a Jewish family, and it became the first feature film in Sweden to depict Swedish-Jewish culture. With its heavily Jewish focus, the film "addresses the Jewish experience to an extent that is in rare in Scandinavian cinema". The film won ten awards and was nominated for an additional three.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Her next film "Family Matters" continued exploration of complex, tabooed family relations begun in "Freud's Leaving Home", including an incestuous relationship between brother and sister.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Bier returned to taboo subjects with the film "The One and Only" in 1999. The film is a Danish romantic comedy starring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Niels Olsen, Rafael Edholm, and Paprika Steen in a story about two unfaithful married couples faced with becoming first-time parents. The film was considered to mark a modern transition in Danish romantic comedies, The film earned both the Robert Award and Bodil Award as the Best Film of 1999.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Following the influence of Dogme 95 manifesto, Bier directed the film "Open Hearts" in 2002. "Open Hearts" tells the story of two couples whose lives are traumatized by a car crash and adultery.


title: Susanne Bier

text: "Open Hearts" received a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes movie review website. Susanne Bier received the International Critics Award at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival "for the fact that it proves that Dogma has come of age and matured into a potent cinematic language that skillfully captures the freeing of real emotions that extreme trauma creates within the lives of the characters in her film." The film won both the Bodil and Robert awards for Best Danish Film in 2003.


title: Susanne Bier

text: In Bier's next film we follow the story of two brothers, Michael and Jannik. The character of Michael has a promising military career, a beautiful wife and two beautiful girls; Michael is shown preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan early in the movie. His younger brother, Jannik, has recently been imprisoned for an attempted bank robbery. Michael picked up Jannik from prison the day before being deployed to Afghanistan; their already strained relationship is shown to be especially tense. While in Afghanistan, Michael's helicopter is shot down- all soldiers are presumed dead, but Michael and a fellow soldier below him are imprisoned. Michael is ultimately forced to kill his fellow soldier. Sarah is supported by Jannik who, against all odds, takes care of the family. Soon, Sarah and Jannik become closer as he fulfills the space/role previously held by his brother. Michael is ultimately rescued by US forces and is able to return home, but to disastrous results. The film tackles the theme of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the psychological aftermath of prisoners of war. The plot shows inspiration from Homer's "Odyssey". It won several awards, including the audience award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival UCMF Movie Music Award. An opera based on the story of the film by Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason was premiered in Aarhus on 16 August 2017. It was commissioned by Den Jyske Opera. Kerstin Perski wrote the libretto and the director was Kasper Holten. To celebrate Aarhus as the European capital of culture 2017 three stage works were produced; a musical, dance and an opera all based on films by Bier were commissioned and performed in Musikhuset.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Bier's next film tells the story of Jacob Petersen who manages an Indian orphanage. With a small staff, he works as hard as he can to keep the orphanage afloat and is personally invested in the young charges - in particular, Pramod, a young boy Jacob has cared for since the boy's birth. The film was a critical and popular success and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


title: Susanne Bier

text: "Time" magazine's Richard Schickel named the film one of the Top 10 Movies of 2007, ranking it at #4, calling it a "dark, richly mounted film". While Schickel saw the film as possibly "old-fashioned stylistically, and rather manipulative in its plotting", he also saw "something deeply satisfying in the way it works out the fates of its troubled, yet believable characters."


title: Susanne Bier

text: The film was remade as the English-language "After the Wedding" in 2019, starring Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Billy Crudup.


title: Susanne Bier

text: In this film we follow the character of Audrey who has been married for eleven years with Brian and leads a well-to-do life, but suddenly her husband dies after trying to defend a woman from an assault. Left alone with two children, Audrey has to face the terrible pain of loss, so she decides to welcome Jerry, her friend's friend, with problems of drug addiction. The two will establish a relationship that will force them to unite their pains, helping each other to make a change in their lives, the difficult search for happiness.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Critics gave the film generally favorable reviews. As of 29 January 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 117 reviews. On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 30 reviews. The two leads received praise for their performances, particularly Benicio Del Toro as he received immense acclaim for his portrayal of Jerry, considered one of his best roles to date.


title: Susanne Bier

text: "In a Better World" (, "the revenge") is a 2010 Danish drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa.


title: Susanne Bier

text: A Danish majority production with co-producers in Sweden, "In a Better World" won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Director Susanne Bier said: "Our experiment in this film is about looking at how little it really takes before a child – or an adult – thinks something is deeply unjust. It really doesn't take much, and I find that profoundly interesting. And scary."


title: Susanne Bier

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 77% out of 114 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with the site consensus stating that ""In a Better World" is a sumptuous melodrama that tackles some rather difficult existential and human themes." Metacritic gave the film a score of 65, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: Susanne Bier

text: Kim Skotte called the film a "powerful and captivating drama" in "Politiken". Out of the four collaborations between Jensen and Bier, he considered "In a Better World" to be the one most similar to Jensen's solo films and compared the combination of biblical themes and high entertainment value to Jensen's 2005 film "Adam's Apples". Peter Nielsen of "Dagbladet Information" called "In a Better World" "in all ways a successful film", and although there "is no doubt that Susanne Bier can tell a good story", he was not entirely convinced: "She can seduce, and she can push the completely correct emotional buttons, so that mothers' as well as fathers' hearts are struck, but she doesn't earnestly drill her probe into the meat."


title: Susanne Bier

text: In 2012, Bier directed "Love Is All You Need" ("Den skaldede frisør"), Lit.: The Bald Hairdresser) a 2012 Danish romantic comedy film starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm.


title: Susanne Bier

text: In 2014, Bier directed "Serena", based on the 2008 novel of the same name by American author Ron Rash. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper as newlyweds running a timber business in 1930s North Carolina.


title: Susanne Bier

text: "Serena" has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 16% based on 106 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus states ""Serena" unites an impressive array of talent on either side of the cameras – then leaves viewers to wonder how it all went so wrong." On Metacritic the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Susanne Bier

text: In 2014, Bier directed "A Second Chance" (), a Danish thriller film. The film stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Maria Bonnevie, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Lykke May Andersen. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Taking a break from film, Bier directed "The Night Manager", a British television serial starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, David Harewood, Tom Hollander, and Elizabeth Debicki. It is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré and adapted to the present day by David Farr. The six-part series began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. In the United States, it began on 19 April 2016 on AMC. It has been sold internationally to over 180 countries, and a second series was commissioned by the BBC and AMC. Scripting duties for the second series were handled by Matthew Orton, Charles Cumming, Namsi Khan and Francesca Gardiner.


title: Susanne Bier

text: The first series of "The Night Manager" was nominated for 36 awards and won 11, including two Primetime Emmy Awards (for director Bier and music composer Victor Reyes) and three Golden Globe Awards (for Hiddleston, Colman, and Laurie).


title: Susanne Bier

text: The series received widespread critical acclaim. Adam Sisman, le Carré's biographer, wrote in UK daily newspaper "The Daily Telegraph", "It is more than 20 years since the novel was published, and in that time two film companies have tried and failed to adapt it, concluding that it was impossible to compress into two hours. But this six-hour television adaptation is long enough to give the novel its due." He added, "And though Hugh Laurie may seem a surprising choice to play 'the worst man in the world', he dominates the screen as a horribly convincing villain. Alert viewers may spot a familiar face in the background of one scene, in a restaurant: John le Carré himself makes a cameo, as he did in the films of "A Most Wanted Man" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". But he is on screen only for an instant: blink and you'll miss him."


title: Susanne Bier

text: Returning to film, Bier directed "Bird Box", an American post-apocalyptic horror film. The screenplay, by Eric Heisserer, was based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman. The film stars Sandra Bullock, and had its world premiere at AFI Fest on 12 November 2018. It was released worldwide on 21 December 2018 by Netflix, and went on to become the most-watched film in Netflix history.


title: Susanne Bier

text: On Metacritic, "Bird Box" has received mixed to positive reviews. "Forbes" called it a "truly terrible movie."


title: Susanne Bier

text: Bier directed the TV series "The Undoing", which premiered on HBO in October 2020 and starred Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. "The Undoing" became the first HBO original series to grow its audience each week and the network's most watched show of 2020.


title: Susanne Bier

text: Most recently, Bier directed the Showtime limited series "The First Lady", starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfieffer, and Gillian Anderson. "The First Lady" premiered in April 2022.