Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29
England’s Johanna Konta created another marvelous execution to beat Russian Ekaterina Makarova and set up an Australian Open quarter-last against Serena Williams.
Konta, seeded ninth, saw off 30th seed Makarova 6-1 6-4 to achieve the last eight without dropping a set.
The Briton, 25, contacted her first Grand Slam semi-last in Melbourne a year ago.
Second seed Williams defeated stern resistance from Czech sixteenth seed Barbora Strycova to win 7-5 6-4.
Konta said: “Believe it or not that’s an incredible experience for me.
“She’s one of the few players still playing who I watched growing up. As a young girl wanting to be a professional tennis player, it’s an incredible honour and I can’t wait to play on court with her.
“Once out on court, against anyone, anyone is out there to compete. Hopefully I’ll come off as the winner.
“In terms of enjoying the opportunity and the competition, I will cherish every minute out there.”
Konta touched base in Melbourne having won her second WTA title in Sydney, the city in which she was conceived, and Monday’s triumph over Makarova made it nine matches and 18 sets in succession.
She had required three hours to beat Makarova at a similar phase of the 2016 competition, however 12 months on the Briton has built up herself as a genuine Grand Slam contender.
Overwhelming in each part of the amusement, she hustled through the principal set in only 24 minutes, winning 78% of focuses on her serve and, all the more amazingly, 62% on the Makarova serve.
Her steady animosity left the level hitting Makarova attempting to make history a racquet on the ball a great part of the time.
Konta’s level dropped in the second set as her first serve betrayed her quickly, permitting Makarova to fabricate a 4-1 lead, however the Briton returned raging with five amusements in succession – finishing off the match wonderfully from 0-40 with two aces en route.
“I think I came out definitely playing at a higher level than she did but she really put herself back into that match and made it difficult for me,” said Konta.
“The way she pulled away in the second set, I don’t feel like I did much wrong, she started playing some incredible tennis.”
Williams’ mentor, Patrick Mouratoglou, picked Konta prior in the week as a main risk to his player, and the hypothesis will now be tried when they meet interestingly.
Williams was not taking care of business in the opening match of day eight on Rod Laver Arena yet did what’s needed to see off a feisty adversary in Strycova.
The American six-time champion, 35, fell a separate of serve three circumstances in the primary set, yet battled back to in the long run win 7-5 6-4.
“She’s a really smart player – she can do pretty much everything,” Williams said of Strycova.
“It was a really good match for me and I’m glad I came through it.”
Williams was under weight on serve more than expected with a first-serve rate of only 45%.
“It’s good to know I have an plan B or option two,” she added. “I wasn’t serving my greatest but she was also putting a lot of returns in there.”
