Go Jo!

Bold, brilliant Konta showed greatness-in-the-making as she blitzed Halep to storm into the semi-finals

1st Brit woman in 39 years at Wimbo semis

BOTTLE, incredible fortitude, unrelenting physical effort, a determination to wring every drop of achievement out of considerable ability.

If Andy Murray was watching this at home, he should have recognised his own qualities in Johanna Konta. Great Britain has already got one great tennis player, it now has another in the making. The very, very early stages, but in the making all the same. This was not just about becoming the first British woman to make the semi-finals in 39 years. This was not just about setting up a meeting with Venus Williams that will stop the nation. This was about wonderful Centre Court confirmation of Konta’s emergence from a bizarre state of successful obscurity and into the country’s consciousness. Even if they knew her name, some did not know her nationality before this tournament. Now everyone knows her name. And everyone knows there will be a viable, vibrant home contender at Wimbledon for years to come, even in the unlikely scenario of Murray’s powers waning soon. Whatever happens against Venus tomorrow, Konta, 26, is now part of Britain’s stellar sporting cast-list.

Dealing with that will be one of the tasks facing her in the long-term future.

If she copes with the same positivity she oozed in this mesmerisingly brutal match, Konta will be fine.

The final point might have been unsatisfactory but Konta was always the aggressor, always the adventurer.

Forget any gripes about Konta’s extended toilet break between the second and third sets. For her risk-taking, she fully merited the triumph over a player who would have become World No.1 had she won.

Simona Halep (below) was pummelled into submission by Konta’s more daring shot-making. Halep deserves credit for her contribution to another magnificent advert for the women’s game, though.

There has been no surrender from them this Wimbledon, precious little of the white flag-waving that became the early theme of the men’s draw.

Konta’s matches on Centre Court have provided more entertainment than any of the men’s contests up to this point. This was magnificent, not least in its power.

This was a battle of bludgeoners. Brilliant bludgeoners, but bludgeoners all the same.

Close your eyes. Listen to the grunts, groans, moans and shrieks, the racquet-thuds echoing around the enclosed arena and you could have been concerned physical violence was taking place in your vicinity.

It certainly became a test of fitness and stamina as well as talent. Halep’s powers of retrieval were astonishing and her low unforced-error count in the unheard-of category.

Konta made many more, but that was because she was undoubtedly the more positive.

She made 36 unforced errors compared to Halep’s nine, but produced 48 winners in contrast to Halep’s 26. Konta was astonishingly bold, even after losing the first set. It also takes mental steel to come back from adversity in front of an expectant crowd, urging you on but sighing disappointment when mistakes happen.

And it takes mental steel to stop missed opportunities mischievously prodding your positive psyche.

After losing the first-set tie-break, she could have cracked. Break points came and went in a procession. Routine excellence was punctuated by glaring errors.

Konta, though, to use one of her favourite phrases, stays in the moment. She seized the crucial moment in the secondset tie-break and seized it again in the final set by making the only break in the fifth game. Konta then held her nerve. Maybe it was the anti-climactic nature of the match-winning point – a spectator’s yelp appearing to distract Halep – but Konta’s instant celebration was calmer than it has been in previous matches. Maybe she is getting used to the pressure, maybe she is getting used to a nation expecting big things from a brand new hero.

Now, it expects even more – and you wouldn’t bet against her delivering.