FOR almost nine games, Johanna gave us hope.
But Venus Williams played the match and the occasion better so it is the veteran American who will play for a bit of tennis history in the ladies’ final on Saturday.
Konta had played superbly to become the first British woman in a Wimbledon semi final since Virginia Wade in 1978.
She won’t have the chance to match Wade’s achievement of winning the title in 1977 because she could not find her best tennis when it mattered most.
Williams’ victory makes her the oldest female Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at SW19 in 1994.
The American will become the oldest female champion since tennis went professional if she claims her sixth Wimbledon singles crown by beating Garbine Muguruza in the final.
It might have been different if Konta had taken the chance to break Williams and serve for the first set.
But after that the match ran away from her against an opponent showing that it’s not just Roger Federer who can turn back the clock to the glory years.
In a tight first set, neither player was quite as convincing on serve as they had been in their quarter finals yet opportunities to break were nonetheless hard to come by.
Konta had had a couple of looks at 15/30 before she finally fashioned two break points in the ninth game. But Williams saved them both convincingly, the second with a 106mph second serve.
Sure enough, in the next game Konta fell 0/40 behind with some wayward hitting and although she saved the first set point with a brave second serve, Williams converted the next.
The Brit had enjoyed some success in pulling the older woman around the court but seemed to lose her way a bit in the second set.
With the help of two netcords in one point and a double fault, Williams soon held three more break points in the fourth game.
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Konta saved the first two but netted a forehand on the third and the mountain she had to climb became Everest-like.
Williams turned up the heat on her serve, hitting Konta with one which looked (and sounded) much faster than 103mph and later sending down a 115mph howitzer which Konta could only dolly up to be put away.
The Brit had been putting more than 90 per cent of her first serves in court during parts of her quarter final against Simona Halep, but she was below 70 per cent against Williams.
And unlike Konta, the American was doing a better job of going after the second serve.
Konta saved two match points, but a double fault brought up a third which Williams converted with a forehand pass.
And so Johanna’s hopes finally died after just 74 minutes.
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