The last piece of the puzzle, though, was the belief that she could beat the best, and with the help of a mental coach since late 2014, the picture seems complete.
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After Britain won the Davis Cup title last December for the first time since 1936, led nearly singlehandedly by the world No. 2, there’s a British man and woman in the semifinals at the same grand slam for the first time since 1977. It was a tighter match than the score suggested and Konta did well to emerge unscathed. She comes and watches a lot of the wheelchair matches, especially at the grand slams.
But she managed that against Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday by telling herself “just believe that you can beat her… just forget the score, just play and go for it and try to play the best you can play”.
“I’m pretty much the female version of Jason Bourne. Stay tuned to the newest Brit on the block”.
Konta, who was born in Sydney to Hungarian parents and moved to England aged 14, has already climbed more than 100 ranking places in the past year and is now assured of entering the top 30 for the first time. It’s unlikely that everyone is going to win but to be in this position is great.
She will play No. 7 Angelique Kerber in the semifinals.
Konta had suffered instant elimination in six of her seven attempts prior to that fourth round exit at Flushing Meadows in September.
Kerber got off to a monster start, breaking Azarenka at love in the first game and claiming a second break on her way to a 4-0 lead. And nice serve. But she was never really mentally able to hold it together.
Murray says he struggled at times during the match.
Murray is now set to play against the victor of the match between Canadian Milos Raonic and French Gael Monfils.
But the 24-year-old did not falter at the second time of asking.
“It really comes down to a number of things”. That’s why I’m still playing. “If you win and die with your wins and losses, it’s an incredibly tough lifestyle to live”.
“I actually did see myself serve (recently) and I’m like, ‘Ohhh, that looks really awkward, ‘” she laughed. Konta laughed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change it”. “That’s what I told her at the end of the match”, said Konta, who is ranked 47th. “That is me living my dream”, said Konta.
Konta on Wednesday became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in 32 years, since Jo Durie did it at the 1983 U.S. Open.
Gradually, Azarenka, who had lost only 11 games in her first four matches here, lifted her level to take 11 of 13 points and regain one break, but Kerber survived five deuces and two break points in an eight-minute eighth game to go 5-3 and broke for the set. And adding further lustre to the British day to remember, Murray’s brother Jamie reached the men’s doubles semi-finals with his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.
Konta, who lost in the opening round of the Australian Open qualifying tournament in 2015, will take on Angelique Kerber – the first German to advance to the Australian Open semis since Anke Huber in 1998.
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“That’s the best I have played in a singles match at a slam and it was against the toughest opposition, so hopefully that’s the start of more to come and I can play like that again in more singles matches at slams”.
