Konta run ended by Williams

The other semi-final will see Venus Williams take on US Open finalist Roberta Vinci.

And now there’s the simple task of taking on one of the greats of the game – seven-time grand slam victor Venus Williams.

Williams accounted for seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-4 and will now turn her attention to bringing Konta back down to earth.

Halep said: “I can say I was dominating the third set till 5-2, then I don’t know what happened”.

As for Konta, she explained that “I think she played an incredible match and at a very high level”. “Johanna played so well; she’s had a wonderful summer and beat so many players this tournament”. It seemed like I was finished but I felt the energy from the crowd.

The 35-year-old American battled into her first semifinal since Doha in February. I’m now looking forward to a good night’s sleep. “So here we go tomorrow”.

The Czech was diagnosed with glandular fever this year, but has continued to compete, and looked exhausted as she walked off court.

“But I served well and I’m really happy I’m in the semi-finals here in Wuhan for the first time”.

Beck’s win sets up a quarterfinal with Bojana Jovanovski, who beat Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Serbian second-round match. When the qualifier scattered a backhand wide, Williams had the opening set in 48 minutes.

Konta was on a roll, but would surely live to regret a missed break chance in the second game.

Konta produced a phenomenal comeback in that third-round match against Halep, who led 5-1 in the deciding set before losing six straight games.

The depth of Konta’s drive often denied Williams angles. It was the Australia-born player’s fifth victory over a top-five ranked opponent since June and a 21st win from her last 22 matches. A long cross-court shot was called out on the line to give Konta another life but Williams ensured it was short-lived.

She fell 15-40 down but Williams rediscovered her serve and hit back to deuce. Instead, it was the American who got the first break, standing in to take her returns aggressively, and attacking the net to finish it off, 2-0.

Stepping inside the baseline to apply pressure, Williams drew an errant forehand for double break point then earned the break on a double fault for 6-5.