Not since December 1977, when John Lloyd and Sue Barker both reached the last four in Melbourne, has Britain been represented in the men’s and women’s singles semifinals of a Grand Slam.
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On Wednesday, Konta beat Zhang Shuai of China, 6-4, 6-1 in a quarterfinal that offered two compelling story lines.
Scottish tennis star Andy Murray marched to the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis after dismissing Spain’s David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6 -2, 6-3 here on Wednesday.
Her semifinal opponent will be seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany, a 6-3, 7-5 victor vs. 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a two-time Australian Open singles champ.
Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai said she was acting as ball girl for Sam Stosur just days ago – before a fairytale run which has left her on the verge of the Australian Open semi-finals.
Buis secured the decisive break of serve to clinch a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory, to set up an all Dutch semi-final match against Jiske Griffioen after the defending champion beat Britain’s Lucy Shuker 7-5, 6-2.
Although the world No. 133 fell three wins shy of capturing a miracle, maiden Grand Slam title, Zhang said she’d leave Melbourne Park with no regrets. “We’re so happy for Johanna that she’s living her dream and will definitely be tuning in to watch tomorrow!”
She held for 5-4, throwing it over to Konta to serve out for a second time and again the Briton struggled to take advantage.
She has won fans at Melbourne Park with her athleticism and mental composure on the court and good humour and a polite humility in interviews after winning.
It was a huge upset for the German, who had lost all six previous encounters with Azarenka, including in the final of the Brisbane International this month and an epic three-hour marathon at last year’s US Open.
The 27-year-old had a stroke of fortune in the fourth round when Madison Keys was badly hampered by injury, and her quarter-final is kindly too as she will face unseeded Briton Johanna Konta. “She is a top-10 player, completely decorated and successful player”.
“Tomas has caused me a lot of problems over the years”, said Federer, who improved to 16-6 against Berdych.
“I didn’t put anything on this match”, said Konta.
She reached the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open, beating Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza en route, and arrived in Australia ranked 47th in the world.
“Any round feels like finals because of the fact that we are, you know, big rivals, we played so many times against each other”, Djokovic said.
“I just wanted to make sure I came out and played the best level I could and, hopefully, gave everyone some good entertainment!” I wish she can win one more grand slam.
Kermode acknowledged that the announcement of the review helped keep the topic of match-fixing prominent in and around the tournament action.
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Kerber went down a break in the second set before winning five consecutive games and saving five set points before beating Azarenka, the result coming as a surprise despite the difference in seedings.
