Britain’s Johanna Konta is upbeat despite her quarter-final loss to Serena Williams at the Australian Open, saying she “enjoyed” the experience.
| Australian Open 2017 |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan |
| Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
Britain’s Johanna Konta described her quarter-final defeat by Serena Williams at the Australian Open as the “best experience of my life”.
An emotional Konta, who was playing the 22-time Grand Slam champion for the first time, said she would come back stronger from the 6-2 6-3 defeat.
“There’s so many things I can learn from that,” the 25-year-old said.
“I don’t think there’s one player that goes up against her and feels they’ve got much of a say in the matches.”
Williams, 35, dropped only three points behind her first serve and attacked Konta’s second serve with particular relish.
The American hit 25 winners to Konta’s 11 and hit 10 aces as she recovered from a break down early in the second set to win in 75 minutes.
“She’s able to really make sure that the points are on her terms,” said world number nine Konta.
“Even if she’s on the defence, it makes you feel that you have to do more with the ball. She makes you feel that pressure.”
The end of a nine-match winning streak, which included her Sydney International triumph earlier this month and not a single dropped set, moved Konta to tears.
“I cried because I’m generally quite an emotional person. I think I’ve never hid that away,” she added.
“I’ve worked incredibly hard to direct that emotion into a positive way and into a constructive way on court. But off court I’m still very emotional.”
Konta, beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champion Angelique Kerber in Melbourne last year, will return to Britain before representing her country in the Fed Cup in Estonia that begins on 8 February.
Williams advances to a semi-final meeting with unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who she last played in 1998 when both were teenagers.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
No matter how many times you have watched Serena Williams play, it is perhaps just not possible to appreciate how hard she hits the ball – and how quickly it arrives on your racquet – until you have shared a court with her.
Johanna Konta had her first experience of that today and was not able to maintain the standards she had set earlier in the fortnight when faced with such persistent pressure.
But a run to the quarter-finals means she could well retain her position in the world’s top 10.
After a few days’ rest, Konta is planning to play Fed Cup for Great Britain in Estonia and then rejoin the tour in Doha and Dubai. She has a packed schedule ahead, although may play one or two fewer tournaments if she keeps winning matches at the same rate.
| Australian Open 2017 |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 January |
| Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
Defending champion Gordon Reid is out of the wheelchair singles at the Australian Open following a three-set loss to Belgian Joachim Gerard.
Briton Reid went down 7-5 5-7 7-5 as Gerard made amends for defeat by the Scot in last year’s final.
Fellow Briton Alfie Hewett lost 6-3 3-6 6-3 to French second seed Stephane Houdet.
Andy Lapthorne beat American second seed David Wagner 6-2 6-2 to win his first round-robin quad match.
Reid’s Australian Open campaign is not over as he will partner Gerard in the wheelchair doubles.
| Australian Open 2017 |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan |
| Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January. |
Six-time champion Serena Williams outplayed Britain’s Johanna Konta to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
The American, 35, won 6-2 6-3 and will next play unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat fifth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Konta, seeded ninth, went into the quarter-final on a nine-match and 18-set winning streak but came up short in her first meeting with Williams.
Williams is now two wins from claiming an Open-era record 23rd major title.
“Johanna Konta has been playing so well,” said the second seed.
“I was in the locker room watching her clean up her matches. She is a future champion here for sure, so I am pleased to get through this.
“I got a little frustrated with my serve, but I told myself ‘don’t get Babyrena’ [Williams’ angry alter-ego] and focused on enjoying myself out here. Today I felt I can do this, it is such a great opportunity for me.”
Konta described facing Williams as the “best experience of my life”.
In a match of big hitting and small margins, it was Williams who established an early control she would not relinquish.
The American’s usually dominant first serve faltered as she made just 45%, but she returned brilliantly to break the Konta serve – the best on tour this season going into the match – four times.
Konta had the first chance but went long with a backhand on break point at 1-1, then found her second serve under greater pressure than at any stage of the tournament so far.
Williams looked razor sharp on return, with two thumping forehand winners setting the American on the way to a 3-1 lead.
More heavy blows brought a second break, and with it the set, in game eight to end a run of 18 straight sets for Konta stretching back to her warm-up win in Sydney.
Konta showed why she had been seen as a real threat by recovering from 0-40 early in the second set and then breaking to lead 3-1, but a loose game handed the advantage back and Williams raced through five straight games to victory.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
No matter how many times you have watched Serena Williams play, it is perhaps just not possible to appreciate how hard she hits the ball – and how quickly it arrives on your racquet – until you have shared a court with her.
Johanna Konta had her first experience of that today and was not able to maintain the standards she had set earlier in the fortnight when faced with such persistent pressure.
But a run to the quarter-finals means she could well retain her position in the world’s top 10.
After a few days’ rest, Konta is planning to play Fed Cup for Great Britain in Estonia and then rejoin the tour in Doha and Dubai. She has a packed schedule ahead, although may play one or two fewer tournaments if she keeps winning matches at the same rate.
World number 79 Lucic-Baroni upset Pliskova to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne – 18 years after she reached the same stage at Wimbledon.
The 34-year-old hardly played in the early years of the century because of a series of personal issues.
“I can’t believe this, this is crazy,” said Lucic-Baroni.
“The only thing I can say is God is good. I can’t believe I’m in the semi-finals again. I feel a little bit in shock right now.
“I know this means a lot to every player but to me this is overwhelming, this has truly made my life and everything bad that has happened OK.”
Lucic-Baroni was a tennis prodigy, winning junior titles at the Australian and US Opens, and winning the Australian Open doubles with Martina Hingis in 1998.
She went on to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon the following year, losing to Steffi Graf.
Lucic-Baroni and Williams will meet for the first time since Wimbledon 1998 in Thursday’s semi-final, which begins at 03:00 GMT.
“It is really happening for the mid-30s,” said Williams.
“Mirjana – it is so good to see her back out and inspiring to see her in the semi-finals. Whatever happens there will be someone in the final in their mid-thirties.”
Serena’s sister Venus takes on fellow American Coco Vandeweghe in the other semi-final.
Wednesday’s Australian Open quarter-final winners will receive the same prize – a semi-final berth – but just how special that last-four appearance will feel should vary for all four players taking the court on Day 10 Down Under.
No. 11 David Goffin (BEL) v. No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Dimitrov leads 1-0
For Goffin and Dimitrov, the next round is almost brand-new territory. Bulgaria’s Dimitrov has reached the semi-finals at a Grand Slam only one prior time – 2014 Wimbledon. Goffin will be going for his first semi-final showing. The Belgian fell during his only other Grand Slam quarter-final appearance, 2016 Roland Garros.
Dimitrov won their only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, a four-set win that also took place on hard courts at a Grand Slam – 2014 US Open. The 25 year old has looked on target on the Australian hard courts as well.
Dimitrov is 9-0 this season, having beaten three Top 10 players – then-No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 3 Milos Raonic and No. 5 Kei Nishikori – to win the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp earlier this month. If Dimitrov beats Goffin, he’ll match the best win streak of his career. In 2014, he also won 10 consecutive matches at The Queen’s Club and Wimbledon.
“I feel good right now. At the same time [I’m] also humbled with the results I have had so far. But now you enter into a different phase of the tournament, so I’m just focused on that,” Dimitrov said.
Goffin, as he often does, has gone under the radar at the season’s first Grand Slam. But the soft-spoken right-hander has quietly been producing big win after big win. He’s fought off two of the game’s biggest servers, young American Reilly Opelka and Croatian Ivo Karlovic. In the fourth round, Goffin earned revenge against Thiem, who had beaten Goffin in the Roland Garros quarter-finals last year.
“I knew that I had the level. The key was to play my best tennis in the match and not only during practice,” Goffin said. “But I’m doing that more often than in the past. That’s why I’m more confident and I win some more matches.”
No. 3 Milos Raonic (CAN) v. No. 9 Rafael Nadal (ESP)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nadal leads 6-2
Nadal has waited nearly two years to get back to a Grand Slam quarter-final. The left-hander last played in a Grand Slam last-eight match at the 2015 Roland Garros, when he fell to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Beat Raonic and Nadal will play in his 24th Grand Slam semi-final.
The 2009 Australian Open champion will try to stay aggressive against Raonic, who will look for every opportunity to attack. The Spaniard leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, but Raonic has won two of their past three meetings, including earlier this season in Brisbane.
“He’s an opponent that makes you feel that you’re playing with a lot of pressure all the time because his serve is huge and he’s playing very aggressive from the baseline,” Nadal said. “I need to be very focused with my serve and play aggressive. If I am not playing aggressive, then I am dead, because he plays aggressive.”
Nadal might be more familiar with the Grand Slam quarter-final stage, but Raonic has been there more recently. Just last year, the Canadian ascended to the Wimbledon final and, in Australia, he made the semi-finals, falling to Andy Murray in five sets.
With Murray and Djokovic out, Raonic, the third seed, is the highest remaining seed and likely feels this could be a golden opportunity to capture his maiden Grand Slam title. Raonic was asked to compare his run in Melbourne last year to his Australian success of 2017.
“I think I did it with a lot more conviction this year than I did last year, personally as well. I was playing great this time last year, but I didn’t know where I was coming from from the year before,” Raonic said. “Coming together now, putting in a great finish to the season last year, playing what I feel is some of my best tennis right now, it’s just a different circumstance, but both pretty special.”
While Grigor Dimitrov has been showcasing form that suggests he might be finally living up to his potential, there is no…
With Angelique Kerber now failing to defend her Australian Open title after a loss to Coco Vandeweghe, Serena Williams…
“I beat him the last time. He’s lucky I retired,” Andy Roddick joked in Melbourne on Monday during a press conference to promote his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The former World No. 1 was referring to Roger Federer, whom he defeated in three sets at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami in 2012, their last tour-level meeting.
When told in press what Roddick said, the Swiss replied: “We joke a lot, the two of us… If I’m not wrong, he won the last match we played against each other and I won the first, so everything in between is a blur.”
That blur included some very memorable clashes. Federer maintains a winning record against Roddick (21-3), but the American still takes it in stride.
“It’s weird because you share history with someone,” the 34-year-old said. “It becomes a part of your definition for a long time. I’m happy that a part of my definition is as respectful, as classy and as good of a human as Roger. It would be tougher for me to hear if the person that ruined me on court for a decade didn’t have the moral fiber of someone like Roger.”
While Roddick prepares to be cemented in Hall of Fame history this summer, Federer continues to battle on the tennis court, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open Monday evening.
Read: Federer To Meet Wawrinka After Ending Zverev’s Run
“What Roger’s doing and maintaining at 35 years old… I know everyone talks about it,” said Roddick. “Everyone here is going to talk about it in every story they write for the rest of this tournament, and I still don’t know if that’s enough. It’s pretty amazing.”
Federer returned the praise, on Twitter as well as in his post-match press conference.
“I’m very psyched for him. I think Andy’s a great guy, enormous tennis player,” said Federer. “So well-deserved. I’m always happy to see old friends that I can even call ‘Hall of Famers’ now. It’s very cool for him. I’m super happy.”
A boss, A legend, A father, A husband, A Rod. Congrats on the hall of fame @andyroddick, so happy for you pic.twitter.com/xPQuOvaH01
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) January 24, 2017
Watch five of the best shots from four-time champion Roger Federer’s 6-1 7-5 6-2 win over unseeded Mischa Zverev in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.