Johanna Konta in pictures: From tennis youngster to Britain's number one
JOHANNA Konta has dominated the Australian Open 2017 and will take on Serena Williams in the quarter-final tonight.
Johanna Konta is Britain's number one
Konta, Britain’s number one and the world’s number nine, will take on 22-time Grand Slam winner Williams for the first time at 2am GMT early tomorrow morning.
She said: “I’ve played quite a few Grand Slam champions and former world number ones, so I've prepared myself as much as possible for a competitor like Serena.”
The 25-year-old has a 2-1 winning record over Williams’ sister Venus and could become the first Brit to beat both players if she wins in Australia.
Konta is one of tennis’ rising stars and over the last year has seen her world ranking jump from 49 at the end of 2015 to her current personal-best of nine.
She was born in Sydney, Australia on May 17, 1991, but moved to the UK with her family aged 14 and now lives in Eastbourne.
Despite living in the UK, Konta continued to represent Australia until she became a British citizen in 2012, after which she switched her allegiance.
Konta is currently playing in the Australian Open
Konta represented Team GB at Rio 2016
She first began playing tennis at eight years old, when she was introduced to the sport at school.
Before moving to the UK, she spent a year living in Barcelona and trained at the Sanchez Casal tennis academy.
Her first professional sets came at on the ITF Circuit in 2006, and her first single title followed in 2008 – just before her 17th birthday.
Off the courts, Konta often looks glamorous on red carpets
She faced Venus Williams last year
Venus denies in-form Konta to reach reach semi-finals [AMBIENT]
Konta now holds two WTFA titles and last year became the first British woman to play a Gran Slam semi-final in 33 years.
Now Britain’s number one, she has been touted as a future Grand Slam winner by her new coach Wim Fissette.
He has said: "I started working with her because I really believe she can [win a Grand Slam] if she keeps getting better like this.
She is reportedly dating Kether Clouder
Since last year she has been training with Wim Fissette
“She has the game. It's always great to see a girl who has a very big first serve, a very big second serve - which girl can do that?
“She has big ground strokes, not many weaknesses, and I also saw her as somebody who is very hard-working and very disciplined.”
She is reportedly dating her hitting partner Kether Clouder, 30, a former tennis coach who now works in technology.