Venus Williams Halts Johanna Konta in Wuhan

Halep was the latest player to discover that the in-form Konta is one to watch after she rallied to win 6-3 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes to set up a last-eight contest with Venus Williams.

The Briton, set to crack the world’s top 50 and become British number one for the first time on Monday following her efforts in China, pulled off the biggest win of her career when she came from 5-1 down in the deciding set to defeat Halep in the third round.

Her ability to beat top players has been emphatically confirmed by her progress at the Wuhan Open.

Two points from elimination, Williams stared down the demanding challenge playing her most dynamic tennis of the tournament. It seemed like I was finished but I felt the energy from the crowd. She will replace Heather Watson as Britain’s No1 when the new rankings are released next week.

That rapid rise had come on the back of 20 wins in her past 21 matches.

“Johanna played so well”, said Williams, who will face US Open finalist Roberta Vinci in today’s semi-final. “Karoline plays so good, and so flat, so for me it was hard, especially at the beginning”.

Vinci said: “The court was for me slow and also the ball heavy”.

Awaiting Konta in the quarterfinals will be Venus Williams, who kept her own unlikely run – she’s unseeded here – going with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the tournament’s No. 7 seed Carla Suarez Navarro. “But I served well and I’m really happy I’m in the semifinals here in Wuhan for the first time-it’s incredible here, a nice city, nice court-it’s just really exciting for me”.

Garbine Muguruza is close to breaking into the world’s top five after beating fellow WTA rising star Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-2, the 21-year-old hitting 19 winners to her opponent’s three in a dominant display.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova on Wednesday announced her withdrawal from next week’s China Open in Beijing, citing a left forearm injury that forced her to retire from the Wuhan Open two days earlier. “This is where I want to be, playing for a place in the final”.

Halep, who said she could not explain why the match had slipped away from her, gave Konta credit.