Mind over matter for Konta at Wimbledon

Single-minded Johanna Konta is vowing to ignore the growing hysteria as she bids to become Britain’s first Wimbledon women’s finalist in 40 years on Thursday night.

The pressure on the Sydney-born star to deliver against five-time champion Venus Williams reached new levels again on Wednesday when Andy Murray crashed out of the tournament.

The dethroned champion’s shock quarter-final loss to Sam Querrey leaves Konta – who represented Australia until five years ago – as Britain’s last remaining singles hope.

Incredibly, the 26-year-old world No.7 had won just one match in five previous visits to The All England Club before last week.

But five straight victories, including three tension-filled three-setters, have thrust Konta into a semi-final showdown with one of the game’s all-time greats.

And the home hope is backing her tunnel vision to again come to the fore against 37-year-old Williams.

“Obviously I’ve been on court with Venus before, so I’m fully aware of the challenge that I’m facing,” Konta said.

Virginia Wade, the last British woman to make the Wimbledon’s final four, attributed Konta’s pulsating quarter-final win over world No.2 Simona Halep to her mental fortitude and is urging her to stay in the zone as expectations grow.

“She had a tougher mind and she was more aggressive and she deserved to win,” Wade said.

“You have to protect yourself and put up a barrier so that you don’t let them impose themselves on what has been so good with her concentration and her game plan.

“It’s very well rehearsed and I’m very impressed.”

Konta, who moved from Sydney to Europe when she was 13, credits much of her new-found mental toughness to her former mind coach Juan Coto, who took his own life last year but whose spirit remains very much with the Brit.

“Juan was a tremendous influence on me. That went beyond my tennis career,” Konta said.

“He was someone who approached his work with me in a very holistic manner.

“It was more about me as a human being than necessarily a tennis player.

“I think he did a tremendous job with me in working on my happiness as a person, as a human being, as dealing with life in general.

“In turn, looked to help me enjoy something that I’ve loved since I was a little girl, and to try to be the best at that.”

Konta leads Williams 3-2 in head-to-head meetings but the two haven’t clashed before on grass.

“We’ve had a few battles in the past. She got the better of me the last time we played, so I’m really looking forward to playing her,” Konta said.

The winner is guaranteed to play a lower-ranked player for the title, with 14th seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion, facing world No.87 Magdalena Rybarikova in Thursday night’s first semi-final.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!