Venus Williams avenged her 2017 semi-final loss to Johanna Konta by beating the Brit 5-7 6-1 6-2 in the fourth round of the 2018 Miami Open.
The American’s win earns her a 13th quarter-final appearance in Miami and means she has now beaten Konta three times in a row since her 6-4 7-5 defeat last year at Crandon Park.
Williams had to achieve victory from a set down – the first time either player has done so in this head-to-head – after the Brit won a tight opener courtesy of a decisive break in the 11th game.
The American, 37, raised her game superbly at the start of the second set and broke Konta immediately to lead 2-0. From that point on, she never looked back as she won 12 of the last 15 games in the match to claim the second and third sets with ease.
Defending champion Konta made the perfect start to the match as she broke Williams in the opening game. She almost earned a double break in game three but wasted four opportunities to clinch it.
Saving those break points enabled the American to find some much-needed rhythm and, shortly afterwards, she levelled the score at 3-3 by breaking back.
Williams even had a chance to take the opener when Konta was serving at 4-5. However, she failed to take advantage of her solitary set point and ended up losing the set 7-5.
After sealing the early break in set two with a thunderous forehand winner, the veteran American pressed on with a comfortable hold and then put pressure on the Brit’s serve by winning the first two points of the game.
However, Konta held firm and nearly broke Williams in game five. From 40-0 up, the American committed two unforced errors and a double fault to let the Brit back into the game.
Then, a couple of points later, Konta crunched a forehand winner to earn break point. Williams saved it with a big serve that was too hot for the Brit to handle and went on to hold for 4-1.
The rest of the set went by in a flash as two errors and a double fault from Konta handed the American another break and Williams held easily to clinch it 6-1.
Before the decider, Konta received treatment on her back. But it did not seem to help as she made a few errors and was broken in the opening game.
The Brit fought hard to try and get back into the match and, after Williams saved a break point in game two, Konta managed to level the score by breaking in game four.
However, that was the last game the Brit won as Williams immediately broke her again and raced through the remaining three games she needed to secure the win.
In her post-match, the American said she feels “very focused” this year in Miami. She also explained why it has not surprised her that she has had to win three tough matches to get to the last eight.
“Pretty much everyone I play plays me tough, so that’s the norm for me,” said Williams. “There are no easy matches.”
She continued, “(To win) you have to realize that the player across the net wants to win, too. So you have to fight for every point, and if you come up short, then you just start over again. Everyone is so good now that you can’t expect to have an easy match.”
Svitolina and Azarenka reach last eight
Williams now has a great chance to go on and claim her first Miami title, but she will probably have to win some more difficult matches to do it due to the calibre of player remaining.
The American will be expected to win her next match against the winner of the match between Monica Puig and Danielle Collins.
However, if she makes it to the last four, she might face Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian kept alive her hopes of Miami glory by producing an inspired comeback to beat Ashleigh Barty 7-5 6-4.
Svitolina made a poor start to the match and found herself 5-2 down in the opening set. But, after a chat with her coach Andrew Bettles, she upped her intensity and won five games in a row to take the first set.
And the Ukrainian withstood everything Barty threw at her in the second set to win it 6-4 and book her place in the quarter-finals.
In the other half of the draw, Victoria Azarenka had a far easier time of things as she cruised past Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-2 to set up a fascinating quarter-final clash with Karolina Pliskova.
Despite her impressive win over World No.1 Simona Halep in the previous round, the Pole was unable to cope with Azarenka’s returning ability as the Belarussian broke her seven times in the match.
