Konta enters semis, to meet Bouchard

British No 3 Evans scored a comefrom-behind win at the Sydney International on Wednesday morning when he came back to upset world No 37 Marcel Granollers of Spain 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Evans, who lost all three of his singles at the Hopman Cup last week, is now in the quarterfinals. He was left awaiting the winner of the match between top seed Dominic Thiem and Portugal’s Gastao Elias.

Konta, who will be trying to emulate last year’s semi-final showing in Melbourne, has gone one step further in the concurrent women’s event. In the semi-final, she will face Eugenie Bouchard after the British No 1 defeated Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-5. Bouchard saw off world No 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. 

Konta had to hold off a spirited second set comeback from Kasatkina. At a set and a break up, Konta, seeded sixth here, appeared to be coasting towards a last four place but her Russian opponent broke back immediately and then again to establish a 4-2 lead. But Konta, who made 31 winners and 30 unforced errors, dug deep to win five of the next six games for the 6-3, 7-5 triumph in less than an hour and three-quarters.