In keeping with the way this Australian Open has been going, Andy Murray was asked following a quarterfinal win on Wednesday about the state of his game. And then, invariably, about the integrity of his sport.
Murray and a much lesser-known British player, Johanna Konta, advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday. Murray beat David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam for 18th time. The 24-year-old Konta had a 6-4, 6-1 win over Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
It’s the first time since the Australian Open in December 1977 that that two British players (John lloyd and Sue Barker) have advanced to the final four of any major.
Konta is playing in her first Australian Open main draw, after losing in qualifying rounds three years in a row. She had a first-round win over No. 8 Venus Williams.
Murray is impressed with her.
“She’s done incredible,” he said. “Another very comfortable and solid win today. Not easy either. She created that chance by beating the seeds, and she deserves to be where she is.”
Konta, the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 US Open, will play Angelique Kerber, who beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5.
The No. 2-ranked Murray, who has lost four finals at Melbourne Park, will meet Milos Raonic in the semifinals. The 25-year-old Canadian beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a night match, continuing his strong form that saw him beat Roger Federer in the Brisbane International final and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round here.
Murray and Raonic, who advanced to his second Grand Slam semifinal after losing to Federer in the final four at Wimbledon in 2014, are 3-3 in career meetings. “I think just the perseverance throughout it, I had a lot of opportunities even in that set I lost,” Raonic said of his win over Monfils. “I just said to myself keep making opportunities and hopefully they’ll go my way.”
Sania-Martina enter final
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis stormed into the final of the women’s doubles after notching up a comfortable straight-set win.
However, Rohan Bopanna’s campaign ended with a shock defeat in the mixed doubles quarterfinals with partner Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.
Sania and Martina, who are on a record winning streak, continued to rule the roost as they brushed aside Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-0 to enter their third successive doubles Grand Slam final.
The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair will take on the seventh seeded Czech combination of Andrea Hlavackova and lucie Hradecka in the summit clash.
Earlier, the third seed Bopanna and Chan lost 2-6, 5-7 to unseeded combination of Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac and Philippines’ Treat Huey.