MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – The Latest from the Australian Open on Wednesday (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
Johanna Konta beat Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open, becoming the first British woman to advance the last four of a Grand Slam event since 1984.
The Sydney-born Konta, who is making her debut in the main draw of the Australian Open and is ranked No. 47, beat seven-time major winner Venus Williams in the first round and reached the quarterfinals with 3-hour win over No. 21 Ekaterina Makarova, a semifinalist at Melbourne Park last year.
Konta, who has lived in Britain since she was a child and became a citizen in 2012, is the first British woman since Jo Durie at Wimbledon in 1984 to reach a major semifinal.
She will play No. 7 Angelique Kerber in the semifinals. Zhang entered the tournament with a 0-14 record in Grand Slam main draw singles matches and was on a seven-match winning streak, including qualifying.
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1:10 p.m.
Angelique Kerber needed all the belief she could muster to come back from 5-2 down in a set against a player she hadn’t beaten in six career meetings.
But she managed that against Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday by telling herself “just believe that you can beat her … just forget the score, just play and go for it and try to play the best you can play.”
The German player had won the first set 6-3 and rallied to win the final five games of the second set to close out the match.
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1:00 p.m.
Angelique Kerber won five consecutive games in the second set and saved five set points to beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Kerber broke Azarenka’s serve to end the match, hitting a cross-court backhand at the net to beat the Belarussian for the first time in seven career matches.
The No.7-seeded German will play the winner of the later quarterfinal between Britain’s Johanna Konta and Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
The other semifinalists – six-time champion Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska – were determined on Tuesday.
Both semifinals will be played Thursday, with the final on Saturday.