Konta up for Serena slam
LEON SMITH will today name his Davis Cup squad for Britain’s World Group first-round tie with Canada but he is not sure if he should include Andy Murray.
Captain Smith would love to have the world No1 in his team in Ottawa on the first weekend in February but after his startling defeat in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday he feels Murray, above, needs a break.
“The best thing for his body is probably not to play,” said Smith. “For his own good it’s better for him to rest up and train and get ready for this next period.”
Smith can keep his options open. Whether he names Murray or not today, he can still chop and change his selection. Murray has indicated that the Davis Cup is in his schedule but Smith knows he will need time to get over his loss to Mischa Zverev. With Murray out, Rafael Nadal took advantage by moving into his first Grand Slam quarter-final for two years by battling past Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
He will meet third seed Milos Raonic. Belgium’s David Goffin beat Dominic Thiem to book a quarter-final against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who knocked out Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Denis Istomin. The fridge-friendly way to save your bacon How do you ensure your bacon stays at its fresh, flavoursome best after the packaging is open? Easily with this Bacon Keeper. Transparent, airtight and waterproof - so messy juices can’t escape - its 3.8cm slim, low-profile design takes up minimal space in your fridge. Flat lid to stack easily. On special offer, when you buy one, we will send you another FREE, useful for ham and other sliced meats. Made from hygienic, washable polypropylene, the Bacon Keeper measures L28xW17x H3.8cm. Buy 1 Get 1 FREE IN A tournament of shocks and upsets, Johanna Konta cannot wait to get her chance to cause another.
Tomorrow she will face the mighty Serena Williams for a place in the semi-finals and there is a growing belief that she just might win.
Konta powered her way through to the quarter-finals, taking 69 minutes to overwhelm Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-4 yesterday. This was the woman who kept Konta on court for more than three hours last year at the same stage of the competition and yet 12 months on, Konta blew her away.
Britain’s No1 has dropped just 22 games in the five hours and nine minutes it has taken her to reach the last eight.
Williams, by contrast, has dropped 27 games in five hours and 34 minutes. Those statistics do not go unnoticed by the good and the great and after watching Konta develop into a top-10 player in the past year, Martina Navratilova feels Williams will have a fight on her hands.
“Jo just keeps improving,” said Navratilova. “You never know how much people will keep improving, but she’s definitely going in the right direction. Most of all she looks the part, she looks like she belongs, she feels she belongs here, she’s not an impostor and she’s got the weapons to go with it.
“She’s improved her movement, her shot selection, cleaned up the middle-ground game. Everything has improved.
“She has never faced Serena Williams. But that full confidence can do wonders for you and she’s backed it up with tennis, so impressive.
“She’s worked her way up and she is going to be here for a while. If she stays healthy, the sky is the limit.”
Konta is happy, relaxed and seemingly free of pressure. She grew up watching both Williams sisters and dreamed one day she would be like them. Having beaten Venus twice, she cannot wait to have a crack at Serena.
“She is the greatest player to be playing right now,” Konta said. “She has pretty much done it all in our sport and very few people get to do that in whatever discipline they do. Because she has made herself such an icon she has that effect on people.
“I’ve never been on court with her so I’m looking forward to the challenge, looking forward to competing, trusting in my own system and trusting in the good things I bring to the court. I will definitely cherish every single second out there.”
When the Melbourne numbers are crunched, there is barely a fag paper between them. They are ranked joint seventh for their shot-making – 23 per cent of their strokes have been winners. Williams has a few more forehand winners, Konta is better on the backhand.
But it is in the unforced errors that Konta wins out: only 17 per cent of her shots are errors while 26 per cent of Williams’ attempts go awry.
“Whoever gets on the offence first will probably win that point,” Navratilova predicted.
“Just try to use controlled aggression, pick your spots and, most of all, hit with conviction.
“It almost doesn’t matter where you’re going to hit the shot as long as you commit to it.
“If you do, whether it’s down the line or cross court, you’re good. If you don’t, you’ll hit down the line or cross court but it’s not going to be hit so well, and you are probably going to miss. So just commit to
the shot.”