On this day in 2017: Johanna Konta reaches Wimbledon semi-finals
The then 26-year-old battled back from a set down to win 6-7 7-6 6-4 against world number two Simona Halep.
Johanna Konta became Britain’s first women’s Wimbledon semi-finalist since 1978 with a comeback victory over Simona Halep on this day in 2017.
The then 26-year-old battled back from a set down to win 6-7 7-6 6-4 against world number two Halep and continued her bid to become the first British woman to win the title in 40 years.
Konta became the first British woman to make it to the last four since Virginia Wade in 1978, with Wade having also been the last British woman to get her hands on the Wimbledon trophy a year earlier in 1977.
Wade was watching on from the Royal Box and cheered with the crowd following Konta’s victory after two hours and 38 minutes.
Depite Halep racing into a 3-0 lead in the first set, Konta fought back and the two players were locked level after 12 games to force a tie-break but Konta was first to blink and lost 7-2 under a closed roof on centre court.
The second set also deep but Konta was most composed this time around coming through 7-5 to force a deciding set.
Konta broke serve in the fifth and saw the game out to set up a meeting with five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the last four.
Konta admitted in post-match press conference that she had “goosebumps” from the crowd following her victory.
She said: “In terms of the home support I feel, I feel very excited and very humbled by it.
“I mean, I don’t know if you were out on Centre Court, any of you, but when you get a massive crowd of people cheering, making that sort of noise in a stadium, you do get goosebumps.”
Konta fell short of the Wimbledon final with a straight-sets semi-final defeat to Williams, losing 6-4 6-2 on Centre Court.
Following persistent battles with injury, Konta retired from tennis in December 2021 at the age of 30.
