Born an Aussie, raised a Brit. Konta’s a star in Melbourne

“It has been for a long time now, over a decade”, Konta said with a good-natured smile at a post-match news conference. She says the most partisan crowd she ever played in front of was in Miami when she played Venus Williams in 2015.

Allertova beat Konta in the first round at the French Open last summer but though she said she was struggling with a leg injury, Konta was too strong, too aggressive and too good. “I think 600 is a proud number”.

It is a measure of her improvement that the same player beat her in three sets at Roland Garros seven months ago.

Tennis Canada is hoping to sell out the 3,000-seat venue for the tie.

Kyrgios mixed the sublime with the ridiculous, producing an astonishing victor in the third before giving up the match with a double fault. I’ve been wearing so many different designs.

Allertova wore heavy strapping round her left thigh and confirmed afterwards she had not played fully-fit, although Konta was none the wiser.

“I’m getting a lot of Australia questions”, she said, adding that she felt it was a compliment to her “for you guys to be interested in my Australian roots”.

THE OTHER MEN: Third-seeded Roger Federer plays David Goffin in a night match on Rod Laver Arena as he attempts to win his fifth Australian Open title and first Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2012.

And that is what Jo Konta did on Saturday morning, backing up her appearance in the last sixteen of the US Open by making the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic. “She’s an incredibly tough opponent and I knew I had to run down each ball and fight for every point”.

Konta was half-jokingly asked by Australian media after beating Williams, a seven-time major victor, if she could be persuaded to move back to Australia, to which she had a very polite response. I get frustrated with myself, and I guess I show it. Sometimes I shouldn’t be. “I’ve been trying to keep the same team of people around me and follow the kind of a lifestyle that I think works for me that got me to where I am”. “I want to play in Rod Laver Arena if we can”, she said.

“I’m often never seen without one”.

Her win means she will climb around 11 places from her ranking of 47 and at this rate, she is destined for much higher.

The pair remained on serve throughout an evenly matched third set until Djokovic saved two set points in the tiebreak to set up a fourth round clash with 14th seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon.