Johanna Konta reaches Australian Open semi-finals

“It was definitely one of the more spectacular matches I’ve played”, Konta said. “We talked, (and said) maybe Sam needs a left-hander to warm up”, Zhang said.

While Konta’s run has surprised many, Andy Murray’s place in the semi-finals was expected with the experts and fans alike. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will contest the other semifinal Thursday. It was as fearless as it was authentic, and even her fellow players have been moved. The two breakout stars of the tournament embraced at the net after Konta won 6-4 6-1 in 83 minutes.

The Eastbourne resident crumbled with two double-faults when serving for the set and allowed Zhang to claw back to 5-4. “I like playing indoors”. He’s never reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

It was the best Grand Slam performance by a Chinese player since the retirement of Li Na, who won the 2011 French Open and quit the sport as reigning Australian Open champion in late 2014.

Konta overcame a brief bouts of nerves at the end of the first to end the run of Chinese qualifier Zhang 6-4 6-1.

Jo Konta became the first British woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final for 32 years after battling for over three hours to beat Ekaterina Makarova.

The The 27-year-old Zhang entered the Australian Open with a 0-14 record in Grand Slam matches.

Zhang Shuai of China celebrates after defeating Madison Keys of the United States in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

In 1977 he lost 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-6 to Australian qualifier Bob Giltinan, who then lost in straight sets to Lloyd in the semi-finals.

The Sydney-born player began the biggest match of her career in impressive fashion, breaking her opponent’s serve twice in the opening set.

He will play the victor of the fourth-round match between fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka and No. 13 Milos Raonic. This will be the third time Konta and Zhang meet on hard court. This year, she is using Zheng Jie’s “lucky locker”. Wang had not done a whole lot at major tournaments on the tour in general, so her victory blew a lot of people away – including Stephens but also a lot of experts.

The 14th-seeded Azarenka will take on No. 7 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.

Konta laughed, along with the crowd at Rod Laver Arena, saying until recently nobody had noticed. “It’s just the way it is and it feels really natural”. Zhang got a couple huge wins over Cornet and Halep in the first two rounds of this tournament, but last night’s match against a hobbled Keys made me realize this girl is nowhere near ready for this moment.

“But it’s so exciting for me”, she added, on her fantastic achievement in reaching the quarter-final. No players were identified and no specifics were published, and many critics believed the data was based on matches that had already examined.

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