Thursday 12 January 2017 16:09, UK
Johanna Konta is into her second successive semi-final after she defeated Daria Kasatkina in straight sets at the Apia International in Sydney.
The British world No 10 overcame windy conditions to win 6-3 7-5 against the Russian.
In doing so, she set up a last-four meeting with Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, who defeated her in the second round at Wimbledon last summer.
Konta, seeded sixth, is in promising form following last week's semis appearance at the Shenzhen Open and with the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Monday.
Indeed, she is yet to drop a set in Sydney and merited her victory against Kasatkina, who had previously eliminated world No 1 Angelique Kerber.
However, her progression only came after 30 unforced errors, offset by 31 winners which gave her the edge as she came out on top in one hour and 42 minutes.
A break in the second game of the first set gave Konta an early advantage and although Kasatkina broke immediately, the Brit then did the same again before holding serve to take a 4-1 lead.
Having then taken the set 6-3, there was a nervy start to the second as the first two service games also saw breaks.
Kasatkina broke again to go 4-2 in front and looked poised to take the match to a deciding third but Konta broke in the next game then held.
It wasn't until the crucial 11th game that Konta seized the initiative again, coming back from 40-15 down to break the Russian with her first break point.
That allowed her to successfully serve out for the match and set up a last four meeting with Bouchard.
