Australian Open 2016: Konta, Kerber through to semi-finals
We bring you a round-up of the action as first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Johanna Konta went through to take on Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals, with Kerber herself taking a more convincing win.
Johanna Konta vs Shuai Zhang
British No. 1 Konta has been doing well recently, as has Chinese challenger Shuai Zhang, who scalped Simona Halep earlier in the tournament.
Konta also started off with an upset, ousting World No. 7 Venus Williams from the tournament in straight sets. She is unseeded at the tournament, while Zhang is a qualifier.
The Briton took an early lead over her Chinese opponent, going up 5-2 in the first set. Despite this, it took her six set points to finally beat Zhang, who stretched her to 6-4 in that set.
After the first set, it was all downhill for the 133rd- ranked Chinese, who tumbled quickly to a relentless attack from Konta.
With 12 winners to Zhang’s 6 in the second and final set, Konta took her to break point on 6 different occasions, successfully banking on four.
Zhang went down 1-6 in the final set, with Konta achieving a new milestone in the process as she became the first British woman in nearly 40 years to reach this level at the Australian Open.
If you have missed the action, you can watch highlights from Konta’s record-setting game against tenacious challenger Zhang on SonyLIV.com, or use their app.
Angelique Kerber vs Victoria Azarenka
14th seed Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open singles champion, started off and continued her campaign in Melbourne this year in convincing fashion. With a double bagel win to open her campaign at the Open this year, Azarenka beat each of her competitors in straight sets.
Despite the fact that Kerber is seeded higher than her at 7th, it was Azarenka who was widely tipped to win, with a 6-0 head to head record against the German. Kerber took a very early march on Azarenka on this occasion however, quickly leading her 4-0 as the Belarussian scrambled back to go narrow the German’s lead to 4-3.
Unfortunately for her, she was unable to capitalize on that resurgence, and Kerber quickly closed out the next two games to win the set 6-3.
Azarenka put up a strong fight in the next set, however, and managing to lead Kerber 5-2 at one point, looked to be taking the match to three sets.
This time, it was Kerber who took a late, and strong charge, leveling at 5-5 before she took another two games in quick succession to win 7-5.
Although Kerber won in straight sets, the match could still have gone either way. Relive the exciting contest on SonyLIV.com or catch the highlights on their app.