Day 8 Australian Open Tennis

CHEERING COMMENTATOR: The world's best is

out. STUDIO

Andy Murray has packed his bags. And Dan Evans's golden run in Melbourne

too is over. But for Johanna Konta, the dream continues. Johanna Konta

looks like a woman on a mission. She has been playing formidable tennis

in Melbourne so far and today's opponent was Russian Ekaterina

Makarova. For both players, it is a case of deja vu.

COMMENTATOR: This is going to be a contest... First set to Makarova by

six games to four. Another poor reply from Makarova decides the set

in favour of Johanna Konta, one set all. What a result! Outstanding

results for Johanna Konta. First British woman to make the

quarterfinal of a Grand Slam since 1987. So, a familiar foe for Johanna

Konta today, but come through this meeting

-- with Ekaterina Makarova and a whole new challenge awaits, because

six time champion Serena Williams is through to the quarterfinals and she

will play the Konta or Makarova next.

We joined the action with Konta three games to one up.

COMMENTATOR: Is getting low for that ball, a lot of Spain, working the

angle. That is a big shot. She likes to go

down the line, she's not afraid to go forward if she the opening. -- if

she sees the opening. Well, that's a great example I think

it, because she served the last three or four serves down the T on

that deuce side. So that's a nice way to mix it up, keep your opponent

guessing. Just missed.

UMPIRE: Miss Makarova is challenging the ball on the baseline, the ball

was called out. I think it was out. We will see. Though no.

It was in. How have you got on with the challenges over the course of

the tournament, Jelena? I think it was 9-2, something like that! Not

bad. Good control on the server too, 167.

That T serve working particularly well on that side. She hasn't really

given Makarova any chance on her serve. She has served five aces

already in this match is. And it is for games to one, for Jo

Konta. Well, I think that is what Konta

makes you do a bit, because she takes the ball early and is

aggressive, so when you do have a chance and an opening, you feel like

you really have to go for it because if you don't, she will. So you start

making more and more errors. That is just beautiful control by again.

This is the variety you like to see from the top players. They will step

in and make that move forward and do it nicely. Not overplaying. Look at

that height over the net, she has really got some margin for error.

She does hit the ball quite hard and take it early, but she does have

that margin for error. There is height above the net on most of her

shots. Just able to do what she likes at the moment. That was well

inside the baseline, but that serve was very slow. She's going to have

to do a lot better or at least get better placement against Konta.

Jo Konta serving for the opening set now, five games to one. I think it

has been all but Jo Konta so far and Makarova hasn't been given the

chance and the time on the court to do what she wants to do. Makarova

only has three winners and five unforced errors. It's not bad, but

Konta, only three unforced errors and ten winners. Which is... Well,

its dominance, isn't it? Yet, it's pretty great. -- yeah.

Really the only blemish so far on serve for Jo Konta. That first

double fault. You can see Makarova try to guess

there. You start to do that when you really have no idea where your

opponent is going to serve all play, so she tried to guess and she did

guess wrong. Well, it has been all Jo Konta in

this set, and she has got two set points now. It was a difficult shot

from Makarova, she really got under that too much, difficult depth.

And she finishes it off nicely! Another ace. Jo Konta takes the

first set 6-1. UMPIRE: New balls please.

6-1 that first set. Konta hardly giving Makarova a look in so far, so

would this be another straightforward win? We joined the

first set at 2-1 and on serve for now.

Well, I think Makarova just got a little bit lucky there. She is

staying in the rallies longer. Yes, I was going to say, good effort to

stay in that point. She has got those unforced errors down a little

bit. Just missing a few serves here, down

to 33% in this set. Great defence from Makarova. Just

that moment there, where -- where Konta was waiting for the

ball to come to her before playing her next shot. She had a shot neck a

forehand which really drag Makarova, maybe she could have come to the net

on that shot. She really does have great ground strokes on both sides

and she can really take advantage of that.

This is it, under a bit of pressure on her serve now. It is a great

serve. Again to the body of Makarova.

Makarova has stayed tough, laid some tough points, made contact play on a

lot of shots. Now she has her first break point for the match.

And she gets there! Is a momentum change. It is 3-1 in the second set.

Well, that is her first real chance since she got in this match and she

took it. I think Konta will be disappointed with that service game.

We talked about her being about 75% in that first set and down to only

30% right now. So a real difference. Coming down from that high level of

tennis she was playing in the opening set. Within a couple of

games of the opening of the second. That is her favourite shot. The

confidence growing for Ekaterina Makarova.

And again. Playing a lot better in the second set.

We talked about that second serve and she doesn't have a great second

serve. She doesn't do a huge amount of double faults. But the second

serve just doesn't have enough speed on it.

Back to what we saw in the opening set really. That one sitting up

right in the hitting zone. Well, two double faults in this

game? Really went for that serve, so a bit of that pressure again from

Konta, standing inside the court on that second serve.

The left-handed serve coming in handy, the ball swinging away, Konta

at full stretch to try to get it back. That is what the right-handers

will have a problem with, that swing serve.

APPLAUSE Makarova hangs on! Gets the lead to

4-1 now in the second set. So, is a change here in this second

set. Jo Konta now under pressure. 1-4 in the second set.

She will be looking to serve a little bit better in this next game.

Down to 30% of first serves in in this set.

Important for Konta to hold her serve here. Get another chance at a

Makarova serve, which she has been able to break today.

Makarova had an opportunity to lean into that lob. Just didn't do enough

with that. This was not a difficult shot, she has made the mistake of

maybe coming forward. Back on track for Jo Konta, holding

to love. So, the pressure is back on Makarova

right now. That's a great point. Makarova needs

to be careful here not to let Konta get a look at too many second

serves. She's really stepping into that. Well inside the baseline.

Great point. That second serve was only 125.

APPLAUSE I was thinking, that ball was

heading into the net, so she didn't go for it. -- Jo Konta was thinking

the ball was heading into the net. UMPIRE: Miss Makarova is challenging

the call on the right baseline. The umpires will just signal from the

chair whether the ball is in or out. Let's see. She didn't miss that, --

if she didn't miss that, I wonder if she would have asked for the

challenge. Yeah. So, in a bit of trouble here.

That is a great return from Konta. Great return, good depth. As we saw

throughout the opening set. Two break points for Jo. A few better

games from her. Cut down the unforced errors. Maybe just took

some pace of the ball a little bit, made sure she got a few balls in.

That is a better serve. She is back in the contest in this

second set! We are back on serve. It is Makarova 4-3 in the second set.

So, 54 minutes in, punter getting things

-- Konta getting things back contract now. Konta's first serve

percentage, as we've said commedia glow in the second set, 43%, but she

does win 83% of points behind her first turf. -- first serve. I think

I agree with you. I will say in. Let's see how we go. Both players

staying on that side of the court. Hey, no problem! They should have

just asked us! It is an ace. Her sixth ace of the match.

She has had not a lot but a couple of balls that Makarova has been able

to slice off both sides that go low. Konta has a bit of trouble with that

on the backhand side. Just doesn't get low enough to give it enough

spin to get it over the net. Some tough points that Makarova is

playing here. She is making this a good battle right now, tight contest

between these two players. That's the way to do it! Great

serve. Get out of trouble with another ace. Racking them up today.

That is a seventh or the match. There is a real difference between

these two players in their first and second serves. Konta is able to get

a lot more free points. Not just that but her serve has really not

been, you can't really step in and attack it, whereas with Makarova's,

you can. That is a great point by Konta. And a great first serve.

It is something that also Angelique Kerber has been struggling with. The

great player that she is, imagine if she had a little bit of a better

serve. That has gone deep! So we are level in the second set, it is for

games all -- four games all. So, the pressure back on Makarova. She had

4-1 in this second set and it is back to 4-4.

And when she does go for a little bit of a bigger second serve, it is

just too hard and too flat. There's not even a little bit of kick on it.

And then she does the double fault. Falling a little bit to that right

side when she is serving. Good shot by Makarova. But the ball

a lot deeper. Great depth. The difference between the first and

second set has been her ability to move Konta around.

That is a great return from Konta, just trapping that ball. She has

returned a few balls even in the rally is straight down the middle of

the court but a little bit more into the Makarova forehand, which we said

can break down a bit at times, and also the footwork, her feet can get

stuck like a Vaclik what happened there.

-- like it's actually what happened there.

So she is going there, obviously, that's the game plan to do that.

You can see that she is really attacking the forehand side,

especially on the big points, and it's working.

That is the side that is going to break down. She is not able to get

an angle on it when she is in the middle of the court where she was on

the last 2-3 points. Break point for Konta.

And again, that forehand. Broken down again. Konta gets the

break. She will come out to serve for the match at 5-4 in the second

set. I think Makarova will be

disappointed with herself, she had 4-1, losing her serve twice. She has

broken pretty easily with the second serve really letting her down.

A great turnaround for Johanna Konta, leading 5-4. She will be

serving for the match. I think it is new balls. Yeah.

It is a tough task here for Makarova, but full credit for Konta,

what I talk about at the beginning of the match, her focus, positivity,

positive body language. She is then able to do a lot in the last couple

of games. She's able to stay strong mentally.

She went point by point, and took it each game at a time.

Only her second double fault of the match, her first in this set. Not a

great time to do it, when serving for the match at 5-4, and 0-15.

Went for it. It didn't come. So, Makarova with three break points.

To get this back to 5-5. That's a good response. Still under

pressure, though. She has a great serve. She's able to

get quite good power, but I think that ball toss sometimes gets a

little bit too low, and gives her a bit of trouble.

And again. Great shot. It's a controlled shot, that's what

it is. She went for it, but again, that margin for error, getting the

height over the net. Especially down the line, I see a lot of players

hitting that hard and flat, really going for it. So she has that

control. That's a great serve, really smart

serve. It's under pressure, coming from three break points down. No

problem. Great placement. Especially on break point, that's her eighth

ace of the match. And again. Incredible.

It's been controlled aggression all the way through for Johanna Konta.

Staying mentally strong, as we can see.

Now she has match point. That's a great return. It wasn't a

bad second serve. She really went for it.

Great shot. Really holding that baseline.

We talked about her getting down to the ball, and in that particular

position, to have balance to hit through that shot, just control it

into the open court, she did that well. Impressive, another match

point now for Johanna Konta. And brings it up in style! The

amazing start to 2017 continues for Johanna Konta. Through to the

quarterfinals, impressive, 6-1, 6-4 over Ekaterina Makarova. One hour

and nine minutes on court, and looking very good in this round of

the Australian Open. Impressive from the beginning of a second set. There

were a couple of games, it was a great match for her. Going into the

quarterfinals. As we said, playing Serena Williams next.

Congratulations, through a game, well done. You are playing some sort

of tennis at the moment. The first set was 24 minutes, outstanding.

Thank you. First of all, thank you to the amazing crowd again today.

You guys are incredible. APPLAUSE Honestly, it is what makes playing

professional tennis so amazing, playing in front of crowds like you,

so thank you again. And I am really happy to have come

through that. Next opponent, Serena Williams.

Believe it or not, that's an incredible experience for me. She's

one of the few players who is still playing who I watched growing up, so

as a young girl growing up wanting to be a professional tennis player,

it's an incredible chance, and I can't wait to share the court with

her. Very nice words, but no room in the

autograph book in two days' time, it is all business.

Of course, once I am on court against anyone, everyone is there to

compete and give their best. And to hedge bets in their favour and

hopefully walk off the court as the winner. In terms of enjoying the

opportunity and the atmosphere, and the competition and the fact that I

get to play someone like Serena Williams, I will definitely cherish

every minute out there. STUDIO: Johanna Konta against her

childhood hero in the quarterfinals. She is the team forward to it, and

so are we. We have highlights from 4:45 on Wednesday evening. Don't

miss that one. With Konta playing the way she is, even the experts

think she has a chance against the great Serena Williams.

The game is there to beat anybody, but it is a big ask, when you have

never played Serena Williams. To beat her at a Grand Slam

quarterfinals, but you never know. But she has the game to beat

anybody. What does she need to do in the

match to be successful? She needs to have a game plan, follow it and

believe in it, and commit on every shot. You have doubts, with Serena,

it is your life. Know what to do and be brave enough to do it.

Sound advice. Two other fourth-round matches today, Pliskova beat

Gavrilova, and the last remaining Australian, much to the crowd was my

dismay. In the last eight, Pliskova faces Lucic-Baroni, who beat

American qualifier Jennifer Brady. Amazingly, it is the first time

Lucic-Baroni has reached a clan Slam quarterfinal since 1999.

In the men's draw, Rafael Nadal goes from strength to strength, back from

injury, he beat Gael Monfils in four sets. He will face third seed Milos

Raonic, after he saw off Roberto that is staggered in four sets.

There were also wins for David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov, who

looks back to his best. He beat Denis Istomin to reach the first

Grand Slam quarterfinal for him in more than two years.

This is the full line-up for the men's quarterfinals. Roger Federer

takes on Andy Murray's and Cara, Mischa Zverev, playing his first

quarterfinal at a major. There is an intriguing clash between 2014 winner

Stan Wawrinka and former runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. While Milos

Raonic meets Rafael Nadal, and David Goffin faces Grigor Dimitrov. It is

the first time in a decade that Murray and Djokovic have not been in

a final and the news is sinking in. You cannot exclude the last six

months of Andy's life, maybe just too much too soon, with the

off-season so short. He gave so much of himself winning Wimbledon and the

Olympics. And the number one ranking on the line in the very last match

of the year. It is a lot of emotional and mental energy. I am

sure... he did not look happy the whole tournament, he was yapping at

his box even when things were going well. It is just mental tiredness,

and I am sure he will sort it out. He just won a Grand Slam, there are

still three left. He is favourite in every other Grand Slam still. This

Grand Slam is better because the court is much faster. If you go for

big shots, if you come to the net, it helps you. The last couple of

years, the best tennis was played in the Australian Open by far.

I never thought that Mr -- Mischa Zverev as Denis Istomin would be

those two guys. The top guys are beatable, especially on a faster

court. It happened in completely different circumstances, but two

huge surprises, no doubt about that. With the top two seeds gone, Roger

Federer is the bookies favourite for the title now, and we have

highlights of the quarterfinal against Germany's Mischa Zverev

tomorrow on BBC Two from 4:4 five. We also have highlights of the world

indoor Bowls tracking chip tonight from 12:15am.

Quarterfinals for Johanna Konta for a second year. It is her first

chance to take on the great Serena Williams. She says it is a challenge

she is going to cherish, but it would be a win she'd never forget.

Thanks for watching, goodbye. The amazing start to 2017 continues

for Johanna Konta. Returning soon to BBC Two -

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