Johanna Konta was angered by a reporter's "patronising" question following her Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Barbora Strycova.
World number 18 Konta slipped out in the last eight on Tuesday, going down 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Centre Court despite taking a 4-1 lead in the first set.
Strycova will now meet seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals, with the 11th seed having overcome Alison Riske.
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Konta was the clear favourite against Strycova but appeared to lose her composure in the second set as the world number 54 cruised to a convincing victory and a first singles appearance in the last four of a major.
When a reporter suggested she could have performed better on key points, Konta replied: "Is that in your professional tennis opinion?
"I don't think you need to pick on me, in a harsh way. I'm very open with [the media] and I say how I feel out there.
"If you don't want to accept that answer or you don't agree with it that's fine, but I still believe in the tennis I play and still believe in the way I competed."
Worth the wait... #Wimbledon | @BaraStrycova pic.twitter.com/MHTFBPUy3R
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2019
Asked if she wanted to win a grand slam in the future, Konta said: "Please don't patronise me.
"In the way you're asking your question, you are being quite disrespectful and you are patronising me.
"I'm a professional competitor who did her best today, and that's all there is to that."
However, Konta felt her performance in her French Open semi-final defeat to Marketa Vondrousova in June was of a higher quality.
"I thought I played better in my French semi-final," she said.
"I thought the conditions were a lot trickier in terms of the conditions we played in. There was a lot more wind and things like that. I think that played a factor.
"Player-wise, they're probably a little similar. I mean, slightly different court, as well, different surface. But no, actually I thought I played better there than in this match."