Johanna Konta races into Australian Open semi-finals

Johanna Konta has moved one match away from the Australian Open final with a straight-sets victory over Zhang Shuai.

The British number one produced another emphatic display in Melbourne to run out a 6-4 6-1 winner over her Chinese opponent in 83 minutes.

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Since her win over Venus Williams in the opening round, Konta has looked at ease on her first appearance at the tournament and it was no different against Zhang as she breezed into a 5-2 lead in the first set.

Zhang, also competing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, showed plenty of resistance in saving five set points and creating break points to level the set at 5-5 but Konta delivered three timely first serves to eventually move closer to a last-four place.

The second set was relatively comfortable for Konta, who broke serve two more times to build a 5-1 lead before striking again on her third match point to seal a famous win, which sees the 24-year-old become the first British female representative to reach a major semi-final since 1983.

Konta will meet Angelique Kerber on Thursday after the seventh seed beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka by a 6-3 7-5 scoreline.