No panic for Konta as Serena looms

MELBOURNE: Johanna Konta says she has learned not to panic in big moments after holding her nerve to blast into her second st raight Aust ra l i an Open quarter-final Monday.

And the in-form British ninth seed will need to keep her wits about her when she faces her next opponent -- the mighty Serena Williams, who is in search of a 23rd Grand Slam crown.

The 25- year- old has been in imperious form, setting herself up as a genuine title contender, and she swatted aside Russian 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6- 4 in suffocating heat on Margaret Court Arena.

It was her ninth win in a row after lifting this month’s Sydney International title, a streak she attributes to a new belief that she can overcome hurdles in pressure situations.

“I think more than anything it’s more trying to disassociate myself from the importance of the moment,” she said.

“I think it’s more keeping things in perspective and not panicking if I were to lose that service game or that point.

“I think just keeping things in good perspective and just having trust in myself that however the match will swing, I will always be there to give my best and to always try to leave it all out on court and fight till the very end.”

Sydney- born Kont a h a s blossomed over the past two years, crediting not just a new mental at titude but greater maturity for her progress.

It helped her last year become the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since 1983 in an eye- catching performance at Melbourne Park, where she was making her debut. — AFP