JOHANNA Konta may be one win away from becoming the first British woman to reach the quarter-finals at the Australian Open for 33 years but that is the last thing on her mind in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old, who put out Venus Williams in round one, was far too strong for the Czech Denisa Allertova, her 6-2, 6-2 victory putting her through to the last 16 for the second consecutive Grand Slam event.
Konta is the first Briton into the fourth round here since Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs in 1987. If she beats Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova tomorrow, she will emulate Durie’s achievement in 1983.
True to form, the 25-year-old said she had no idea Durie was the last woman to achieve the feat and that she was trying to avoid all hype surrounding her performances.
“I’m not unaware of [the interest] but I think it’s as big as you make it. It becomes as important as you want it to,” Konta said.
“It’s very much not the focus point of my career. It’s not what I play tennis for, it’s just staying in the present, enjoying what I’m doing and making sure I’m making the kind of improvements and moves forward that I want to.”
When she lost in the first round of qualifying last year, Konta was ranked 141 but her victory over Allertova means she will now break into the top 40.
Durie, whose run in 1983 was ended by Martina Navratilova, but not before she had won a set, has been impressed by Konta’s rise.
“She used to be emotional and a little bit fragile, but now she has such a good sense of confidence and self-worth,” Durie said. “She is so consistent and secure, she looks like she belongs.
“I think players find it difficult to know how to get after her mentally, as well as physically. They think ‘Where do we go with her?’ Maybe her mind is now her strongest suit.”
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka surged through the draw with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Naomi Osaka of Japan. But Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza became another big name to fall as she was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by another Czech, Barbora Strycova.
And Shuai Zhang of Chinawho had lost all of her previous 14 grand slam matches, crushed Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-3 to reach the last 16.
Konta was unable to make it a double success as she and Heather Watson lost the battle of the Brits with Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith winning 6-2, 6-3.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here