Win or lose against Venus Williams in the Wimbledon semi-finals a fine mid-twenties British talent has begun to hit the grooveThe relationship between player and crowd at Wimbledon tends to be pegged out around great matches, an accumulated muscle memory of successive oddly intimate moments of extreme competition down the years. Johanna Konta’s gripping quarter-final defeat of Simona Halep looks like being the latest example of this process in action.Both women played to the outer reaches of their capacity over three high-grade sets. Centre Court quivered and moaned in the way no other sporting crowd ever really quivers and moans. In victory Konta threw another grappling hook across the divide from late-blooming high-class hopeful to slams contender. Plus she added another...
Konta was serene, Murray rather spiky, but Britain has representatives in both the Wimbledon men’s and women’s quarter-finals for the first time since 1973Liveried in regulation green and purple and an anachronism at an All England Club that has long been digitised, the resolutely old school, manually operated order of play board outside Centre Court is one of Wimbledon’s more popular locations for souvenir selfies. Related: Johanna Konta first British woman in Wimbledon quarter-finals for 33 years Related: Andy Murray hobbles to 10th straight Wimbledon quarter-final with Paire win Related: Konta fans fume as Wimbledon switches big screen match to Murray Continue reading...
The British No1 has sailed into Wimbledon’s last 16 with three displays of steely purpose and goes into the tournament’s final week aiming to make historyJohanna Konta’s biggest challenge as Wimbledon enters its concluding week is not so much the pedigree of her 15 rivals left in the draw – there is no standout favourite – but marrying the intensity of her emotions to the quality of her performance. She has done that with encouraging consistency since breaking into the top 10, most impressively in Miami, where she defeated Simona Halep, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the title.On Monday Konta plays the one-time French prodigy Caroline Garcia on No1 Court in the fourth round and, as her...
The Romanian gave great entertainment in his day, but he has crossed a line with his abuse of Johanna Konta, Anne Keothavong and Serena WilliamsIt is 45 years since Centre Court at Wimbledon rose to applaud the charismatic entertainer that was Ilie Nastase, loser of a memorable five-set final against the American Stan Smith. After the Romanian’s appalling behaviour in Constanta this weekend during Great Britain’s Fed Cup tie against the home team he coaches, it is unlikely a British audience will ever again give him such rapturous acclaim.When the 70-year-old Nastase reduced Johanna Konta to tears in the second set of her match against Sorana Cirstea on Saturday by calling her, “a fucking bitch” he transformed a mere sporting...
The British No1’s Miami Open triumph was the result of improving her win percentage and adopting a methodical approachIt takes a lot to impress Martina Navratilova but her considered judgment that Johanna Konta can take her tennis to higher places after her breakthrough win in Miami will be worth much more than any hype generated in the heat of celebration. Related: Johanna Konta announces her arrival at the next level of her sport | Kevin Mitchell Continue reading...