Joanna Konta has become the first British women to reach the last eight in a Grand Slam for more than 30 years after battling past Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 at the Australian Open.
Both players were in impressive shape going into their fourth round encounter. Konta stunned Venus Williams in the first round as she eased her way to the fourth round without dropping a set. The route to the fourth round had made Konta the first British woman to reach the last 16 in Melbourne for 29 years. Meanwhile Makarova, who reached the semifinals of the tournament last year, also strolled to the fourth round without dropping a set after dismissing 9th seed Karolina Pliskova in the third round.
As the match got underway, both players encountered difficulties in their service games. In the first six games of the match there were break points in each one. Konta was the first to capitalize when she broke Makarova to love to establish a 2-1 lead. A couple games later the Australian-born Brit could have extended her lead to 4-1, when she had two more break points against the Russian but failed to convert either. The failure was costly after a battling Makarova was finally rewarded in the sixth game by breaking back to level 3-3. Konta kept having chances to regain the lead, but Makarova kept denying the Brit. At 4-4, Makarova was forced to save a break point before edging ahead to 5-4. The Russian was able to seal the set with ease after a nightmare service game from Konta. A double fault followed by two unforced errors handed Makarova three set points. The world No.24 failed to convert the first two but was given the set on the third after another double fault from her opponent.
After taking the opening set, a tense Makarova came undone at the start of the second. Despite leading 40-0, Konta impressively battled back by winning five straight points to break for an early lead. This lull in Makarova’s form, enabled Konta to maintain a firm grip on the set. The Russian was unable to find a way to break back as a more consistent Konta produced some stunning winners. The biggest improvement for Konta was her service where she faced no break points during the second set compared to seven in the first. The British players second service winning rate increased from 43% to 71% in the second set. Serving for the set, Konta was handed her first set point after a backhand from her opponent went out of the court. The 24-year-old sealed the set after a 152 km/h serve down the line resulted in Makarova returning the ball out.
In the first game of the decider Makarova had to endure three deuces before holding her serve to lead 1-0. The match was then halted after a trainer was called for Makarova to treat a blister on her right foot. The issue didn’t appear too troublesome for the Russian, who was running around the court with little difficulty.
Smart Konta practicing her serve while Makarova calls for trainer after she held serve for 1-0 Feels unfair to Konta pic.twitter.com/iy7TlBIQsK
— Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) January 25, 2016
Throughout the deciding set both players experienced tough tests in their service games. Konta was in danger of going behind 0-2 after a backhand from the world No.24 skimmed the top of the net to go in, giving Makarova a break point. Despite having the opportunity to break, the Russian was still unable to get past the Konta serve. Makarova kept applying pressure against Konta’s serve, but the Brit remained resilient throughout the decider. Meanwhile Makarova saved two break point in the seventh game before taking it with a brilliant overhead lob to move ahead 4-3. After nine games going to serve, Konta finally drew blood. An deep return against Makarova gave her two chances to break. Aided by some outstanding backhand hits, the British No.1 finally wore down the Makarova serve to break for a chance to serve for the match.
Serving for a place in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Konta succumbed to the pressure as the more experienced Makarova hit a forehand winner down the line to break back once again. The tides had turned for the Brit who went from serving for the match at 5-4, to serving to stay in the match at 5-6. Unlike the opening set when she buckled under the pressure, Konta held her nerve to level 6-6. The Brit was awarded a second opportunity to serve for the match after a wild forehand from the Makarova allowed her to break once again. In her second attempt to claim the historic win, Konta was triumphant. A forehand unforced error from Makarova handed the world No.47 three match points. Konta took the match with her first after a serve out wide lead to her opponent returning it into the net.
Konta is the first British player to reach the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam event since Jo Durie at the 1894 Wimbledon Championships. After clinching her historic win, she spoke candidly about her performance in the match.
“I just tried to hang in there and run after every single ball and keep fighting in every single point because that’s all i can do at the end of the day. I was just fortunate enough to capitalize on some opportunities”. She said.
In her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, Konta will play either Madison keys or Zhang Shua.
