Britain’s number one Konta knocks hero Venus Williams out of Australian Open

Eighth seed Venus Williams has provided Australian Open fans with the shock of the tournament so far after she was shocked on Tuesday by world No. 47, rising British star Johanna Konta, who was making her Australian Open debut.

As Venus Williams slowly walked off court following her loss to Britain’s Johanna Konta on Tuesday, Australian fans may have wondered whether she’d be back for her 17th Australian Open next year.

She enters Melbourne with a 0-14 record in Grand Slam main draw matches, having won just two sets.

“In terms of a decorated tennis player and the biggest champion that I’ve ever played, yeah, she definitely is and I’m very proud of the way I was able to keep going whatever the scoreline”.

“Obviously there are nerves, and also the nerves of the many thousand people around you, which is impossible not to feel either”, Konta said.

Konta’s next opponent is Saisai Zheng of China, a player ranked 83 and likely to be inspired by the performance of her countrywoman, Shuai Zhang. “I have all the respect for her in the world”. “To win against a top-two player, I’m so happy, so excited”.

While she regained her place in the top 10 previous year, the American last won a singles slam at Wimbledon in 2008.

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei may be a wily veteran with a deep bag of tricks, but her unusual array of two-handed shots and changes of pace were little match for the power of world No. 1 Serena Williams at the first Grand Slam event of the year on Wednesday.

“Because I know when I was growing up – I mean, certainly throughout my whole career – I was never warned about that or told about that or anyone said to me how you should handle that if you’re in that situation”.

Against Konta, however, she struggled to connect with her first serve and couldn’t match the Australian-born Konta’s power from the baseline. “I don’t have any news because I’ve just come off the court”.

While Williams dominated whenever she got into the net, Konta restricted her opportunities to do so with the consistently accurate length of her ground strokes, denying the American the chance to find her rhythm.

Williams was fined $US3,000 ($A4,340) for the same offence at last year’s French Open after losing to compatriot Sloane Stephens.

The 35 year old who was seeded No 8 after her brilliant 2015 season thanks to her quarterfinals reach at the Australian and US Open however, was no match for the 24 year old Konta today probably because of the heat.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Andy Murray began his bid for a drought-breaking title at the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev, checked to see there were no urgent calls from home, and walked into the controversy over match-fixing allegations that have overshadowed the opening two days of the tournament. “That’s why I’ve been playing really well”, Nishikori said.

“I just think that it should be tennis that does a better job of explaining…”

Venus Williams has been knocked out of the first round 6-4, 6-2 by Britain’s Johanna Konta.

“I’ve said before that I don’t judge myself on my ranking or my results, so it would be very hypocritical to start now”, she said.