Johanna Konta has become the first British female tennis player to reach the semi-final of Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1978 after beating the second seed Simona Halep in three sets today.
The first two sets went to tie-breaks with the Romanian Halep claiming the first and Konta roaring back to the win the second.
In front of a partisan crowd, Konta kept her cool to win the deciding set 6-4. The match ended in a slightly controversial fashion as a crowd member screamed when a Halep groundstroke landed on the line.
When the ball was returned her way, the Romanian appeared to believe that she had been called out and, in a promising position in the rally, she hit the ball limply into the net.
Halep would have ascended to No. 1 in the world rankings had she reached the semi-finals. The Romanian was defeated in last month's French Open final by the unseeded Jelena Ostapenko and her wait for a Grand Slam continues.
Waiting for Konta in the next round is Venus Williams who handed out another lesson to one of Wimbledon's young upstarts when she beat French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 7-5 on Tuesday to become the oldest women's semi-finalist for 23 years.
The five-times champion, who turned 37 last month, tamed the big-hitting Latvian with a rock-solid performance under the Centre Court roof, winning with something to spare.
Williams, who had already disposed of a 21-year-old and two teenagers en route to her 38th grand slam quarter-final, barely flinched against the 20-year-old French Open champion whose magnificent 11-match winning run in majors came to an end.
The American, who must scroll back to the 2008 Wimbledon for her seventh, and most recent, grand slam singles title, broke Ostapenko's serve in the second game and was untroubled in taking the opener in 29 minutes.
She sealed it when her 13th-seeded opponent swished at thin air on an attempted forehand service return.
"She continues to take care of business"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2017
The moment Venus Williams reached her second straight #Wimbledon semi-final... pic.twitter.com/V8woBJlJZ2
Ostapenko was subdued as Williams secured an early break in the second set, although she got a helping hand back into the match when Williams double-faulted to drop serve.
That had the effect of lighting the Ostapenko fuse and she began to look threatening as she held serve to love with an ace to move 4-3 ahead on a gloomy Centre Court.
Williams had to serve to stay in the second set at 4-5 and was relieved to see an Ostapenko return land narrowly wide at 30-30 before squaring the set.
Ostapenko felt the pressure in the next game when a hurried forehand into the net gave Williams the break and the veteran needed no second invitation, holding serve to love to claim victory.
Spain's 2015 runner-up Garbine Muguruza [above] advanced confidently into the last four with a calmly efficient and well-controlled 6-3 6-4 victory over Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion who lost to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final the following year, had just that bit more control in a hard-hitting baseline duel to follow up her victory over top seed Angelique Kerber on Monday.
Muguruza, seeded 14th, saved a tricky break point on her second service game - the only one she faced all match - but roared back to break to love en route to taking the first set.
Another early break in the second piled the pressure on Kuznetsova, the 32-year-old Russian with two grand slam titles to her name who was appearing in the quarter-finals for the first time in 10 years, and she was rarely able to threaten.
Muguruza, who has reached the last four for the loss of one set, brought up match point with an ace down the middle and won it courtesy of another big serve to earn a semi-final meeting with Magdalena Rybarikova or Coco Vandeweghe.
A big smile on the face of Conchita Martinez as @GarbiMuguruza reaches her third Grand Slam semi-final...#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/6japmrU7Y7
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2017
