Konta, the first British woman to reach a grand slam semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 US Open, will play Angelique Kerber, who beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5.
Advertisement
Angelique Kerber ended Johanna Konta’s fairytale run at the Australian Open with a 7-5 6-2 victory today to earn a place in her first grand slam final.
History was made at the 2016 Australian Open on Wednesday, as Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in more than 30 years.
The Briton took an early lead over her Chinese opponent, going up 5-2 in the first set.
Kerber is more established, having made two grand slam semi-finals and two quarter-finals before, while also finishing in the world’s top 10 in each year since 2012.
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.
On Wednesday, just as Kerber began her match with Azarenka, the governing bodies of tennis announced they will commission an independent review of their anti-corruption unit to restore “public confidence in our sport”.
“It’s a really special moment to reach the final for the first time”, Kerber said after the match. “Very excited to have a British woman in the latter stage of a slam, that’s not happened for a long, long time”. I said “Just go for it and beat her”.
During the interview, the television presenter said that all of the top players will be noticing Konta’s run at the Australian Open and will be sending their coaches to watch her play. Like I keep saying, I don’t look at myself in the mirror and say, “you’re number this in the world”. I like playing indoors, as I grew up on it in Scotland.
Konta will play her semi-final on Thursday and Murray will play on Friday, with Jamie Murray and Soares playing their doubles final starting at 11am (Midnight GMT). I know I can lose the match. “I’ve really enjoyed the battles, I think that has been a really good experience”.
The competition will be held annually, except for Summer Olympic years, and the first edition is set for September 2017.
Despite being furious at herself for failing to show the killer intinct, the 26-year-old said it will be forgotten as she continues her return from the injuries and personal issues that have hampered her career over the past two years.
She consolidated her lead with an ace, a smashed victor and delicate looping lob to go 3-1 in front as Zhang scrambled around the court looking for answers.
He will next play Great Britain’s Andy Murray for a chance to move on to the tournament final.
“Throw in Kerber hadn’t beaten her before and I’m surprised by that result”.
She is now third in the all-time list after moving three clear of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s 18 but she remains short of Australian Margaret Court, who is out in front on 24.
Advertisement
“She really makes every single ball possible and makes you work for every single point”, said Konta. “At the end, when I had match point, I had it a little bit more in my mind, but it’s just an wonderful feeling to be here in the semifinals for the first time”.
