British No. 1 Johanna Konta has reached her very first semifinal appearance of a tennis grand slam and became the first woman in the United Kingdom in over 30 years to go that far.

Konta defeated the sensational Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai (world No. 133) with a two straight sets 6-4, 6-1 victory at the fourth round of the 2016 Australian Open on Wednesday to advance to the semifinal round of the prestigious tennis competition.

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Jo Durie was the last British woman to make a grand slam semifinal at the US Open in 1983. While Virginia Wade, who won the 1977 Wimbledon title, was the last woman in Britain to ever reached and win the finals of a major tourney.

The British top tennis player will bid to become the first British woman to reach the Australian Open final since Wade´s run to the 1972 title.

Sydney-born Konta, 24, (world No. 47) will try to continue her amazing fairytale run on Thursday when she faces the German Angelique Kerber (the tournament's seventh seed and the current world number six) for a place in the title-decider.

According to the BBC, her achievements so far have guaranteed her prize money of at least £370,000 and is likely to secure her a place in the world's top 30.

"I'm just so happy that I'm enjoying what I'm doing," said Konta after winning over Zhang. "That is me living my dream."

Konta started tennis at the young age of eight. She plays right handed (double handed backhand) and likes to play in the clay surface. She reached her career high singles ranking as world No. 46 on October 19, 2015 - one place higher from her current ranking today.

Konta is currently being coached by Esteban Carril and Jose Manuel Garcia.

TagsJohanna Konta, Shuai Zhang, austrailan open