Johanna Konta’s French Open campaign came to an early end after she was handed a shocking 4-6 3-6 defeat at the hands of Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the first round on Sunday.

The early exit meant Konta, a former world No. 4, failed to register a main draw win at the premier clay-court event for the fourth season in a row.

When asked about her dismal record in the post-match press conference, the British No. 1 fumed at the reporters.

“Well, you guys can answer this for me, then,” she said. “Let’s say for a few years your pieces of writing have just been cr*p every time when you come into Roland Garros. Right? Just cr*p.

“And then your colleagues start to say, ‘You know, you really suck around that time’. And that happens, you know, for a few years.

“How would you guys digest that, and would you feel any sort of… lingering kind of, ‘Oh, you know what? I want to prove these b*****ds wrong’, but, you know, it’s just kind of lingering there?

“So it’s not something I would like to buy into, and I don’t think I do. However, you guys don’t make it easy.”

As for Putintseva, she is scheduled to lock horns with another Brit, Jennifer Brady in the second round on Wednesday.