German Kerber ends Konta’s run to reach Melbourne final

Johanna Konta admitted her lack of experience proved crucial as her extraordinary run at the Australian Open was ended in the semi-finals by Angelique Kerber.

She will plays German Angelique Kerber, who fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to post a 6-3, 7-5 knockout of two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, becoming the first German woman into a Melbourne semi-final in almost two decades.

Kerber reached her first Grand Slam final.

“She played quite explosive”, Sharapova said.

Radwanksa’s admission after the match was telling.

Kerber and Konta play later Thursday, with whoever wins facing a huge obstacle to be crowned champion. I mean, who is in the semis played very good four matches actually, or five matches. I think she’s one of the, if not the most consistent player on the tour and that’s no secret.

There was a five minute changeover while the ball-kids wiped the court dry of a few spots of rain but the delay made no odds to Kerber, who served out to love to take the set in 49 minutes. Konta was still going strong at the end of three hours and four minutes, which made this the second-longest women’s match at this tournament.

He beat Federer in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals a year ago, but Federer was back contending for titles.

A key difference between the defending champions is that Williams beat the most-experienced and highest-ranked challenger in her half of the draw when she extended her streak to 18 consecutive wins against Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal victory on Tuesday.

Steffi Graf was the last German player to win the women’s title in Australia, in 1994. The rising star holds all three passports, she explained, but only one country is home.

Asked what she was thinking at 3-0 down, Konta said: “Oh my God, please get on the board”. “Just really make sure that I give my best out there”.

Konta had been hoping to extend Britain’s excellent showing in Melbourne, with Andy Murray playing Milos Raonic on Friday in the semi-finals of the singles and Jamie Murray making it through to the doubles final alongside Brazilian Bruno Soares.

Konta was the conquerer of Venus Williams in round one, and was rewarded with a mostly kind path to the semifinals – Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round proving her only real test. The consistency needed to reach such a late stage in a Grand Slam tournament, and the level of play required to beat both Venus and Makarova, are both things we’ve not seen from the British number one before though, and bode well for Konta’s future.

“She wrote to me, but I was not able to check it right now”, Kerber said.

It was completely unexpected from a player who past year, disillusioned with her form, considered retiring and had lost all 14 of her previous Grand Slam matches before this tournament.

With the first set under her belt, Kerber came out for the second set aggressively, hitting hard to grab an early break and pile the pressure on Konta. Kerber broke Konta’s serve in the 11th game, and held in the next to take the set in 49 minutes. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed playing in front of the big crowd.

Ohanna Konta does not know Jo Durie, Sue Barker or Virginia Wade, but the 24-year-old Briton says that she will “definitely make a concerted effort to find out more about them”.

“I think everything is stoppable at some point, I guess”, Williams said. I’ve shown good quality, way more consistent, physically much better.