Johanna Konta reacted angrily when questioned on her big-point mentality after another golden Grand Slam opportunity went begging.

The British number one lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-1) to unseeded Barbora Strycova in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

She hit a huge 33 unforced errors in a match in which she was the overwhelming favourite, mirroring a similar showing in the French Open semis.

“I don’t think you need to pick on me in a harsh way,” she told one reporter.

Presented with examples of shots that had gone wrong, such as a smash at the net and a double fault, and asked if she perhaps could have coped better on big points, she replied: “Is that in your professional tennis opinion?” before saying the questioning was “disrespectful and patronising”.

“I’m a professional competitor who did her best today, and that’s all there is to that,” she added.

Konta had put in battling performances against top-10 players in her two previous matches, coming through in three sets against Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova, and has much to celebrate from these championships.

On the back of a successful clay-court season as well, she is set to return to the top 15 in the rankings for the first time since March 2018.

She has won admiration for a calmer on-court demeanour since hiring new coach Dimitri Zavialoff late last year, but the manner of her defeat from a winning position on Tuesday and the spiky nature of the news conference afterwards are reminiscent of the old days.

After last year’s first-round exit from the French Open, she accused journalists of making her job more difficult with their criticism.

The mantra versus the mistakes

Konta is well known for speaking about the positives in her losses, even if it sometimes looks a bit of an effort to say it and look upbeat at the same time.

After this defeat, when she had led 4-1 before crumbling and missing out on a fourth Grand Slam semi-final, she repeated the same “no regrets” mantra that came after the defeat by unseeded Marketa Vondrousova at the French Open last month.

That straight-set loss to the teenager – which came after the Briton had held three set points in the first set – stopped her reaching her first Grand Slam final, with many pundits saying that had been her best chance of a major title.

Against Strycova, former world number one John McEnroe said it was disappointing to see Konta “fall to pieces” when she had been a break up early on.

But Konta, whose forehand broke down when targeted by Strycova, gave much of the credit to the Czech for “playing very well” rather than explaining why her serve that was so dominant in previous rounds dropped to a level where she won just 51% of first-serve points.

Nor did she explain why she sent two forehands long and a backhand wide to allow Strycova to break back in the first set, when as former world number one Tracy Austin put it on BBC television, “the irritating streaks of her game started kicking in”.

“I think I’ve played a great tournament,” Konta said. “Obviously I would have liked to have played three more matches, won three more matches. But I really feel that even including today, I can take a lot away from these 10 days.

“The players that I’ve played and beaten, also lost to today, I think overall there’s a lot I can be proud of and take from it.”

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Was the news conference questioning unfair?

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli said Konta had been “bullied” by the questioning at the news conference, while journalists would say they are just doing their jobs by asking what went wrong in a match.

“[News conferences] can be extremely difficult,” Bartoli told the BBC’s Today at Wimbledon. “It is part of your job, you just have to sort of say exactly what she said – I am a professional tennis player, I tried my best today.

“Obviously us as analysers, we’re trying just to figure it out what happened exactly, why she lost that match and why the other one won it.

“But as a tennis player you just can’t allow yourself to be bullied like this in a press conference from someone who probably never picked up a racquet himself and never been on Centre Court, to be frank.”

Konta ‘will have to work on her game’

Konta reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open in 2016, losing to Angelique Kerber, while her bid to reach the Wimbledon final in 2017 was halted in the last four by seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.

A slump followed and she split with coach Wim Fissette after that Wimbledon semi-final before hiring Maria Sharapova’s former coach Michael Joyce at the start of the 2018 season.

But she reached just one final last year, losing to Ashleigh Barty in Nottingham, and her ranking dropped to as low as 50th.

Under Zavialoff she has turned things round, reaching two clay finals this year before the stunning run at the French Open – a tournament where she had previously never gone beyond the first round.

She continued her form on grass with some excellent displays at the All England Club but once again finds herself facing questions about how she can take the next step up and end the 42-year wait for a British women’s singles Grand Slam champion.

“I think now if she wants to improve and actually go further in a Grand Slam and maybe to first of all be in a final, she will have to sit down with her coach and see what happened today in that match,” Bartoli said.

“She will have to work on her game because I think those kind of players with the slices and the lack of speed are really disturbing her, so that is something she will have to work on.”

What was said – full transcript of exchange

Journalist: Do you not have to look at yourself a little bit about how you cope with these big points? Because it’s all very well saying it is a lot to do with your opponent but there were key points when you perhaps could have done better.

Konta: Is that in your professional tennis opinion?

Journalist: No, that is just as a watching spectator with everyone else on Centre Court willing you on.

Konta: OK. I don’t think you need to pick on me in a harsh way. I think I’m very open with you guys and I say how I feel out there and if you don’t want to accept that answer or you don’t agree with it then that’s fine. But I still believe in the tennis I play and still believe in the way I competed and I don’t much have else to say to your question.

Journalist: I’m just asking you as someone who presumably wants to go on from here, learn from this and win a Grand Slam one day. Is it not something that you need…

Konta: Please don’t patronise me…

Journalist: …I’m not patronising you…

Konta: …No, no you are. In the way you are asking your question you are being quite disrespectful and you are patronising me. I am a professional competitor who did her best today and that’s all there is to that.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will try to tee up their first Wimbledon meeting since the epic 2008 final when they headline the men’s quarter-finals.

Eight-time champion Federer plays Japan’s eighth seed Kei Nishikori second on Centre Court on Wednesday.

Top seed Novak Djokovic opens on the main show court against Belgium’s 21st seed David Goffin at 13:00 BST.

Nadal faces American Sam Querrey on Court One after fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut takes on Guido Pella.

In the mixed doubles, Andy Murray and Serena Williams will be third on Court Two for their last-16 match against top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar.

Federer, who turns 38 next month, is the oldest player in a last-eight line-up featuring five players aged over 30, while Nishikori and Goffin are the youngest men left in the draw at the age of 28.

The Swiss great is the oldest men’s quarter-finalist at the All England Club since American Jimmy Connors in 1991.

The old guard continue to lead the way

How the men’s game will look when the power of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic eventually diminishes is something which has been discussed at length for a number of years now – and we are still no closer to knowing when that day will arrive.

The ‘big three’ have won the past 10 Grand Slams between them – Stan Wawrinka at the 2016 US Open was the last winner not from the trio – and few are looking past one of them lifting the Wimbledon trophy again on Sunday.

All three have sailed through the SW19 draw so far, dropping just one set apiece in reaching the quarter-finals.

Second seed Federer dropped just five games against young Italian Matteo Berretini, who was playing his first last-16 match at a Grand Slam.

Top seed Djokovic showed the gulf in class as he beat inexperienced Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-3 6-2 6-3, while third seed Nadal breezed past Portugal’s Joao Sousa in a 6-2 6-2 6-2 victory.

“I think the best guys now are fully engaged, they know exactly what to expect from the court and the conditions. That helps us to play better,” said Federer, who is bidding to reach his 13th Wimbledon semi-final.

“We haven’t dropped much energy in any way. It’s not like we’re coming in with an empty tank into the second week.

“All these little things help us to then really thrive in these conditions.”

Federer is aiming to earn his 100th win at the All England Club against Nishikori, and in doing so, will become the first player in singles history to do so at a single Grand Slam.

‘Playing Djokovic is like playing a spider’

Goffin has matched his best performance at a Grand Slam by reaching his first Wimbledon quarter-final, but trails 5-1 in his head-to-head record with four-time champion Djokovic.

The Belgian’s coach Thomas Johansson, who famously earned a shock Australian Open title in 2002, said it is “almost impossible” to find any weaknesses in Djokovic’s game.

“He doesn’t have a big serve but it is very, very accurate. From the baseline he’s a wall,” the Swede said.

“I remember hitting with him many years ago – it’s like hitting against a spider. It feels like everything is coming back.

“You really have to try to put him in uncomfortable positions on the court – otherwise he will kill you.”

In reaching the semi-finals, Djokovic would join Boris Becker, Arthur Gore and Herbert Lawford in third place on the all-time list for last-four appearances at the All England Club.

Victory would also mark his 70th match win at Wimbledon, and would make him only the fourth man in the open era to achieve the feat after Federer, Becker and Connors.

Querrey’s dangerous serve, Bautista Agut not dropped a set… don’t rule out the rest

Querrey will be playing his third Wimbledon quarter-final in four years and looking to cause another upset after beating Britain’s Andy Murray – who was injured and has not played in the singles at Wimbledon since – to reach his second semi-final in 2017.

The 32-year-old American is the only unseeded player in the men’s singles quarter-finals and has thumped down 100 aces so far at this year’s tournament, dropping just one service game and landing 86% of his first serves.

“My serve feels really good. I’m kind of locked in on it. I have got a good rhythm,” he said.

“This is a tournament that rewards good servers. Everything feels right on my serve.”

While Djokovic, Federer and Nadal take all the plaudits, 32-year-old Bautista Agut is actually the only man left who has not dropped a set yet.

His meeting with Pella marks their first on grass, and he would become only the sixth Spanish man in history to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Pella, meanwhile, would become the third Argentine man to do so, with both yet to experience a last-four tie at a Grand Slam.

Stats fans, listen up

• For the fifth year in total, the ‘big three’ of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
• On only one previous occasion, in 2007, have all three progressed to the semi-finals.
• Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have won 53 Grand Slam titles between them. None of the other quarter-finalists have won one.
• If Nadal and Bautista Agut both reach the semi-finals, it will mark the first time in history that multiple Spanish men have reached the last four at Wimbledon.
• The quarter-final between Bautista Agut and Pella is the first Wimbledon men’s singles last four tie since 2013 not to feature a top 20 player.

Johanna Konta failed in her bid to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals after an error-strewn display in a straight-set defeat by Czech Barbora Strycova.

The British number one started strongly, racing to a 4-1 lead, before collapsing to lose 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

Let down by her previously dominant serve and firing long when she had the whole court at her disposal, Konta could not find a way back.

Strycova will face 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the semis.

“I think this was one of the best matches I have played,” Strycova, 33, said after reaching her maiden Grand Slam singles semi-final.

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Konta’s game deserts her

Konta came into the match boasting an incredible record of having lost just three of her 47 service games at these championships.

Despite the fact she got an early break, the warning signs that the 28-year-old’s biggest weapon might not be firing properly were there in the opening game when she had to save a break point.

The errors began to creep in at 4-2 when she sent two forehands wide and wild backhand long to allow Strycova to get the break back.

It became a theme as Konta went on to produce 22 unforced errors in that opening set, with the Czech increasing in confidence as she gave Konta a lesson in effective drop shots to take it to a tie-break.

There Konta could not find a rhythm, sending a forehand into the net to hand the set to the world number world number 54.

Konta is well versed in losing opening sets and winning in a third – with a record of 13 wins from 15 three-setters this year – but this time an early break in the second put a comeback out of reach.

The game was up for the Briton when she went long with a backhand – summing up everything that was wrong with this performance.

More to follow.