For the first time in 32 years Great Britain has a female representative in the quarter finals of a Grand Slam after Johanna Konta edged out Ekaterina Makarova in a thrilling Australian Open contest.
In 1984 Jo Durie reached the last eight at Wimbledon and now Konta picks up where she left off after coming from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 8-6 in three hours and four minutes.
It was a shaky start for Konta after she gave up her first set of the tournament after saving two break points at 4-5 before a double fault made it first blood Makarova.
She immediately responded though as a break in the first game of the second saw her earn an advantage that she wouldn’t let go as she levelled things to set up a decider.
The third brought about a back-and-forth battle from the pair with Konta picking up the break and serving for the match at 5-4 only to lose her serve and allow Makarova back into the match.
But Konta stayed strong and eventually came through a tense third to set up a clash with either Madison Keys or Shuai Zhang in the quarter-finals.
“I think mentally, emotionally, physically, I left it all out here on the court and I really tried to hang in there and run after every ball and every single point,” she said.
“That’s all I can do at the end of the day and I feel fortunate enough that I had some opportunities and could close it out in the end.
“It’s really about keep working and keep breathing and just keep your mind as quiet as possible, the less thoughts the better. Now I’ll just eat and sleep then eat and sleep and then repeat to recover now!”
Sportsbeat 2016