British No 1 Johanna Konta reaches Shenzhen semis
Thursday 5 January 2017 12:56, UK
Johanna Konta is one victory away from her third WTA final after she saw off Kristyna Pliskova with a hard-fought win in the Shenzhen Open quarter-finals.
Konta, seeded third in China, has hit the ground running in 2017 and got past her Czech opponent 6-4 6-7 (13/11) 6-3 with a solid performance.
She will meet either Nina Stojanovic or Katerina Siniakova in the last four and with second seed Simona Halep already dumped out, the British No 1 will have eyes on a third tour final and a likely meeting with Agnieszka Radwanska.
It looked like it would be a comfortable outing against Pliskova, the twin sister of world No 6 Karolina, when a dominant Konta took the first set with a single break.
The second set was a server's paradise, though, as neither player could force a break point, with just one game going to deuce before an inevitable tie-break.
An epic decider ensued as Konta wasted two match points before the big-serving Pliskova eventually took it 13/11 on her fifth set point.
Konta did not let the disappointment get to her, though, and remained solid in the final set.
She claimed the vital break midway through and then saw it out to reach the semi-final on her fifth match point.
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