Johanna Konta had only made one appearance beyond the first round of any grand slam before last year’s US Open.
Konta had suffered instant elimination in six of her seven attempts prior to that fourth round exit at Flushing Meadows in September.
Her previous best result was a second round appearance at the US Open way back in 2012.
Something is starting to click in Konta’s career.
The 24-year-old has carried her form from New York at the back end of last year into 2016.
She will be one of the four semi finalists in a wide open women’s singles draw after advancing with a 6-4 6-1 demolition of China’s Shuai Zhang at Rod Laver Arena on a warm Wednesday afternoon.
Konta was cool as ice in the spotlight of centre court.
“I felt I did quite a good job of removing any sort of occasion from the match,” she said. “I really just took it as tennis match and I was competing against a really good opponent.
“I just wanted to make sure I was executing to the best of my ability what I wanted to get done out there. I felt I did that. I really enjoyed my time out there. Could have been a first round, could have been any round in this tournament. I really enjoyed just competing out there and dealing with the situations that arose.”
Zhang herself is one of the stories of the tournament.
The Chinese qualifier had not even won a grand slam match and she found herself in a quarter final.
Zhang, 27, had been to 14 previous slams for a 0-14 win-loss record.
The giant-killing run of the 133rd ranked player will live long in the memories of fans at this year’s Open.
“In my heart I’m feeling I already win the tournament because I win seven match [including qualifiers],” Zhang said.
Konta will face Germany’s seventh seed Angelique Kerber in the semi final.
That match-up means there will be a new grand slam finalist come Saturday night.
Kerber’s previous best finish at a slam was semi finals at Wimbledon in 2012 and the US Open in 2011.
Despite her superior ranking, Kerber’s 6-3 7-5 win over Belarusian Victoria Azarenka had an element of surprise to it as well.
In six head-to-head meetings, the 16th ranked Azarenka held a 6-0 lead.
Kerber took the first set, but was down 5-2 in the second set with Azarenka having the chance of serving to close out the set.
But Kerber displayed tremendous mental toughness to fight back to take the final five games of the set and ultimately the match to get that ugly head-to-head monkey off the back.
Can Kerber now go one better and move through to her first Grand Slam final?
Kerber will go in as favourite and takes some nice form into the clash with Konta.
“I won against her [Azarenka] for the first time, does feel really good,” Kerber said. “Before I went on court also yesterday I was practicing in my practice to be more aggressive.
“I played very well. I mean, I was playing my game from the first point. Also when I was down 2-5, I was actually, yeah, playing more aggressive on this time. I think that was the key.
“I served very well and was moving good. I think the key from this match was that I was playing and I won the match. She doesn’t lose it, I actually won it.”
In stark contrast, Azarenka felt that her game was “flat” from the word go.
She tried to get back into the contest in the second set to force a third, but Kerber was not going to be denied on this day.
“I obviously didn’t start great,” she said. “For me personally, it was a little bit 10% not enough of everything. “My footwork didn’t have enough. My shots didn’t have enough. I felt I did a little bit too any unforced errors in the key moments.
“You know, that’s not going to win matches in quarter finals. You have to bring it, and I didn’t.”
In the men’s singles, Canada’s Milos Raonic overpowered France’s Gael Monfils to win in four sets, while Brit Andy Murray continued his fine form with a four-set win over Spain’s David Ferrer.
2016 Australian Open
MEN’S SINGLES
Quarter finals
Novak Djokovic d Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2 6-4
Roger Federer d Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-2 6-4
Milos Raonic d Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4
Andy Murray d David Ferrer 6-3 6-7 6-2 6-3
Semi finals
Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer
Andy Murray v Milos Raonic
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Quarter finals
Serena Williams d Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska d Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3
Angelique Kerber d Victoria Azarenka 6-3 7-5
Johanna Konta d Shuai Zhang 6-4 6-1
Semi finals
Serena Williams v Agnieszka Radwanska
Angelique Kerber v Johanna Konta
