Johanna Konta can take solace in defeat from Virginia Wade’s early SW19 losses | Jacob Steinberg


History tends to forget that Britain’s last victor in the Wimbledon women’s tournament lost her first two semi-finals

First you have to suffer. The unspoken rule for any British hopeful striving to scratch the nation’s itch at Wimbledon is that the journey is never complete until they have dragged themselves off a deflated Centre Court at the end of their semi-final debut with sympathetic applause ringing in their ears, their bottom lip quivering and that lump in their throat threatening to spill on to the grass, guilty only of daring to think it would be different this time.

Related: Venus Williams into Wimbledon final with smooth defeat of Johanna Konta

Related: Johanna Konta: quiet Sydney schoolgirl always had focus of a champion | Naaman Zhou

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