England’s Johanna Konta arranged a sublime fight back to beat world number two Simona Halep 6 3-6 7-5 and achieve the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open. In the wake of winning the first set, Konta searched set for annihilation as her Romanian adversary won the second and was 5-1 up in the definitive third. However Halep had no answer as Konta battled back to advance.
The 24-year-old will next play previous world number one Venus Williams for a spot in the last four. Konta turns into the first British lady to beat a world number two since Sue Barker crushed Tracy Austin in 1981. Konta, who will supplant Heather Watson as British number one, had won 21 of her past 22 matches this season. She started the year positioned 150th yet will pass her comrade in one week from now’s rankings. Watson is positioned 60th in the world.
Konta came through two rounds of qualifying in Wuhan, joining 19 of the world’s main 20 in the primary draw, and came to the last 16 after Victoria Azarenka resigned with leg damage. It has been 34 years since a Briton has figured out how to beat a world number two. Watson verged on beating world number one Serena Williams at Wimbledon this late spring, while British number three Laura Robson vanquished Kim Clijsters and Li Na at the 2012 US Open. This year, Konta has twice beaten Wimbledon finalist Sabine Muguruza and has now defeat the world number two.
Konta said, “Playing Venus is a childhood dream. I’m taking care of being able to recover. I feel lucky and humble I get to play so many matches, and be able to win a few of them. There’s a lot of hard work behind it. It’s not an accident or a click. Everything is a process and a journey, and it’s nice to be on a high right now. I’m not that amazed, overwhelmed or unnecessarily excited about every match. I’m an ambitious person and believe in my own ability. But I know how tennis works – there are ups and downs.”
Former British number one Annabel Croft on BBC Radio 5 live said,
“She’s been on meteoric rise since the grass-court season started at Eastbourne. She’s a transformed player from the one we saw a year ago. Today was the biggest win of her career by a long way. She’s a grafter, a lovely girl and appreciative of everything handed out. You couldn’t wish the success on a nicer person. It proves hard work, graft and application to the task has paid off”.
