A relieved Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since 1984 yesterday when she came through a three-set slugfest at the Australian Open, afterwards exclaiming: “Goodness gracious!”

The unseeded Konta, ranked 47 in the world, ground down Russian 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 in three hours, four minutes on Margaret Court Arena – the second-longest women’s match of the tournament.

The draining victory marked the Australian-born 24-year-old’s furthest progression at a Grand Slam, and is the best British effort at a major since Jo Durie made the Wimbledon quarterfinals 32 years ago.

Durie also reached the Australian Open quarters in 1983. The only other British women to get as far were Virginia Wade, who won the tournament in 1972, and Sue Barker who made the semis twice.

“Goodness gracious,” said Konta, who stunned eighth seed Venus Williams in the first round, as the victory sunk in. “Mentally, emotionally and physically I left it all out there on the court.

“I ran down every ball and kept fighting for every point and fortunately managed to capitalise on some opportunities and close it out in the end.”

She rated it as one of her toughest wins, saying she was thinking only, “Oh, my God, it’s finished!” when asked what was going through her mind at the end of such a gruelling encounter.

“It was just, I guess – well, a lot of it is relief. It’s a big crescendo, it’s suddenly over. It’s more like another, ‘Oh, wow, that was long.’”

Konta had beaten the left-hander during their only previous meeting, at Eastbourne last year, and she made it two out of two as she outlasted the Russian, a semi-finalist last year

It was an impressive win against a player who has always enjoyed Melbourne Park, making the fourth round or better on her last six outings, including quarterfinals in 2012 and 2013.

“I’m just incredibly happy and humbled with the way I was able to compete today. That’s the thing I’m most happy about,” said Konta.

Culled from www.SuperSports.com