LONDON, (Reuters) – Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon in more than 40 years yesterday when she beat Romanian Simona Halep 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 6-4 in a tension-filled match on Centre Court.
Virginia Wade was the last British woman to reach the last four in 1978, the year after she won the title.
Halep’s defeat cost her top spot in the world rankings as she was overhauled by Czech Karolina Pliskova, who was knocked out in the second round. The second-seeded Romanian would have become number one had she beaten sixth seed Konta.
American Venus Williams rolled back the years to defeat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets and will meet Konta in the semi-finals while Spain’s Garbine Muguruza moved confidently into the last four by beating Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Muguruza, who is seeded 14th, will meet the unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who beat American Coco Vandeweghe 6-3 6-3 in a rain-delayed contest to reach the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time.
In the men’s draw, second-seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased past France’s Adrian Mannarino with a routine 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4 victory, and will meet 11th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals today.
Rain is forecast through the day, with play to begin on Centre Court under the roof cover. There will be no play before 1100 GMT on any of the other courts.
