Konta through to 4th round at Australian Open

“So I thought, you know, it would be really fun to play in one”, she said after her third-round win Down Under.

Johanna Konta spurned the country of her birth to play tennis for Britain but the Sydney-born 24-year-old has enjoyed huge support from the Melbourne Park crowds during her run to the Australian Open fourth round.

Johanna Konta is the Australian Open’s dark horse and can become the first British woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final since 1984, according to the record’s current holder Jo Durie. It’s a fish restaurant on Chapel Street.

“And toast and chia pods”.

The chia pod, entailing chia seeds mixed with fruit and coconut milk, is a recipe of the super-food craze and it seems to be doing its work as Konta finished off world No. 66 Allertova easily.

Czech Allertova was certainly no match for her resurgent opponent on the Hisense Arena, and the fact this dominant victory came just eight months after Konta lost the pair’s last meeting at the French Open is a mark of how far the Briton has risen.

“I’m feeling pretty good – it’s wonderful what adrenalin does”, said Konta, the world number 47.

“Obviously the court plays differently when the roof is closed”.

“I have been amazed with how much support I’ve gotten, but I don’t know if that’s a British contingent here or if that’s from my Australian roots”, Konta told reporters.

Her opponent has also been in good form, but Allertova was wearing heavy strapping around her left thigh and, whether fully fit or not, never really gained a foothold in the contest.

“Australia is my birth home so it will always be a home of some sort”, Konta said on Saturday. “We have seen time and time again that even with injuries players can still be very unsafe so that’s not a main focus for me”. Jo was ruthless with me. “So I just wanted to think outside of the box”, she said.