MELBOURNE — Johanna Konta spurned the country of her birth to play tennis for Britain but the Sydney-born 24-year-old has enjoyed huge support from the Melbourne Park crowds during her run to the Australian Open fourth round.
After upsetting Venus Williams in her opening round match, Konta said she had no intentions of switching allegiance back to Australia but there was no cold shoulder from the crowd at Hisense Arena on Saturday.
Konta demolished 66th-ranked Czech Denisa Allertova 6-2 6-2, making her the first British woman to reach the last 16 in Australia since Jo Durie in 1987.