LONDON, July 11, 2017

Johanna Konta headlined quarterfinals action at Wimbledon beating Romanian second seed Simona Halep in a thrilling match to become Britain’s first women’s Wimbledon semi-finalist since 1978.

The 26-year-old, who is seeded sixth fought back to win 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 and match Virginia Wade’s feat of 39 years ago.

“To be in the semifinals of my home slam, and to do that in front of a full Centre Court, I mean, it’s pretty, pretty special,” Konta said in her post-match press conference.

“I think the level of tennis that both of us played today, it was just a tremendous match. So I think just to be a part of a match like that again, I’ve been very fortunate this Championships. I feel very lucky.”

Halep’s defeat also ensures that World No.3 Karolina Pliskova, who crashed out of the tournament in the second round, will be the new WTA World No.1 on Monday.

Konta will next take on Venus Williams, who beat Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 13 minutes.

In the second semi-final Garbine Muguruza of Spain will face Magdalena Rybariko from Russia. The latter had never been in the second week of Grand Slam, ousted CoCo Vanderweghe from the United States 6-3, 6-3.

In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic completed the quarterfinals taking on Tomas Berdych. The second seed from Serbia eased past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes.