Johanna Konta Claims Quarter-Final Place At Australian Open

Johanna Konta has reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after fighting back from a set down to claim victory over Ekaterina Makarova.

The 24years old completed a 4-6 6-4 8-6 win over the 21st-seeded Makarova to become the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since 1984. Konta ended a 32-year wait for a female Brit entrant in the last eight, stretching back to when Jo Durie advanced to that stage at Wimbledon. She will next face Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang for a place in the semis after she upset big-hitting American Madison Keys 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Both players exchanged breaks in the opening set and Konta appeared to be feeling the tension when she dished up an untimely double fault to hand Makarova a 1-0 lead in sets but Konta began to chip away at the Russian's resistance with her crisp ground strokes and secured the second set to level the match. Again the Eastbourne-based player appeared to feel the nerves while serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, allowing Makarova to break back and extend the contest.

Konta said this after the match “I think mentally, emotionally, physically - I left it all out here on the court. I really just tried to hang in there and just run after every single ball and keep fighting every single point. That's all I can do at the end of the day. I feel fortunate enough that I was able to capitalise on some opportunities and close it out in the end”.