Melbourne: A relieved Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since 1984 Monday when she came through a three-set slugfest at the Australian Open, afterwards exclaiming: “Goodness gracious!”
The unseeded Konta, ranked 47 in the world, ground down Russian 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 in three hours, four minutes on Margaret Court Arena - the second longest women’s match of the tournament.
The draining victory marked the Australian-born 24-year-old’s furthest progression at a Grand Slam, and is the best British effort at a major since Jo Durie made the Wimbledon quarter-finals 32 years ago.
Durie also reached the Australian Open quarters in 1983. The only other British women to get as far were Virginia Wade, who won the tournament in 1972, and Sue Barker who made the semis twice.
“Goodness gracious,” said Konta, who stunned eighth seed Venus Williams in the first round, as the victory sunk in. “Mentally, emotionally and physically I left it all out there on the court.
“I ran down every ball and kept fighting for every point and fortunately managed to capitalise on some opportunities and close it out in the end.”
She rated it as one of her toughest wins, saying she was thinking only, “Oh, my God, it’s finished!” when asked what was going through her mind at the end of such a gruelling encounter.
“It was just, I guess - well, a lot of it is relief. It’s a big crescendo, it’s suddenly over. It’s more like another, ‘Oh, wow, that was long.’”
Konta had beaten the left-hander during their only previous meeting, at Eastbourne last year, and she made it two out of two as she outlasted the Russian, a semi-finalist last year.
It was an impressive win against a player who has always enjoyed Melbourne Park, making the fourth round or better on her last six outings, including quarter-finals in 2012 and 2013.
“I’m just incredibly happy and humbled with the way I was able to compete today. That’s the thing I’m most happy about,” said Konta.
The match was heavy-hitting from the word go, with little between the two players. But it was Konta who bagged the first break, with Makarova smacking a forehand into the net to hand the Brit a 2-1 advantage.
She held for 3-1 but the Russian then reeled off three games in a row as the pressure built on Konta, who couldn’t prevent the set going the Russian’s way.
Undeterred, she attacked the Makarova serve and went 1-0 up on a break at the start of the second set.
There were no easy points and both women fought grimly, but it was Konta who held her nerve to close out the second set and take it to a third.
After holding serve in a 16-minute opening game, the Russian called for the trainer for treatment to her right foot, seemingly because of blisters.
But she seemed untroubled and the pair kept plugging away. It went with serve until Konta finally earned a break in game nine, but she couldn’t finish the set off and Makarova struck back.
The Briton scored another break as the clock approached the three-hour mark, and this time she made no mistake.
