Jo Konta Becomes First British Female To Reach Last 16 Of Australian Open

Yesterday Jo Konta backed up her appearance in the last sixteen of the US Open by making the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic.

The British number one has yet to drop a set in making the second week of the tournament, successfully following up her first round win over Venus Williams. Beating the world number 66 was made to look as easy as you like. Wearing a heavy strapping on her upper left leg there was a slight question over the Czech's full fitness, but Konta was all clinical efficiency. She becomes the first British woman to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open since Jo Durie in 1987. In the same year, Anne Hobbs also made the 4th round in 1987.  Konta said: “It was not easy out here today. She's an incredibly tough opponent, I had a tough match against her last year at the French Open. I knew I had to run down every single ball. My body is feeling pretty good. It's amazing what adrenaline does”.

Konta now faces the 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, who knocked out number nine seed Karolina Pliskova.