Konta into last eight after two wins in a day

Jo hanna K on ta reached her first big clay-court quarter-final with back-toback victories over grand slam champions Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams at the Italian Open yesterday.

Wednesday’ s washout meant two matches in a day for nearly everyone, and British No 1 Konta produced two stand out results.

Her 6 -7 (3), 6 -4, 6 -1 victor y over Stephens in the second round was arguably the most impressive of her career on clay.

Konta’s only previous victory over a top-10 player on clay came against Roberta Vinci at the same venue three years ago.

Williams did not have to play twice, having been given a walkover in the second round by her sister Serena, and it was clear from the start of yesterday’s match that she, too, was experiencing physical issues.

The 38-year-old had her right knees trapped and for the first two games she could hardly move or serve.

She improved after that but never looked capable of making a match of it as long as Konta kept her head, which she did to win 6-2, 6-4 in just an hour and 12 minutes.

Konta will celebrate her 28th birthday today with a clash against Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova who knocked out Simona Halep in round two and then beat Daria Kasatkina.