Overnight at the Australian Open - Williams to meet Konta, Lucic-Baroni’s fairy tale continues

Updated 23/01/2017 at 09:32 GMT

Everything you need to know from the overnight action at Melbourne Park, with Serena Williams and Johanna Konta set to meet in the quarter-finals.

Jo Konta faces Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open

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Serena Williams overcame a sluggish first set that saw her drop serve four times to come through to beat Barbora Strycova 7-5 6-4.

HIGHLIGHTS: Serena beats Strycova to make quarters

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22-time Grand Slam winner Williams was broken three times in the opening set and as she served for the match in the second but replied in kind each time to see it out in one hour and 46 minutes.

The second seed will face British number one Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals after she impressively beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 6-4.

Konta, who made the semi-finals at the Australian Open last year, eased past Makarova in one hour and eight minutes to set up a quarter-final showdown with Williams.

"She's one of the players still playing who I looked up to as a young girl wanting to be a professional tennis player," said Konta.

"It's an incredible honour and I will cherish every moment out there."

It was with her run to the semi-finals as world number 47 at Melbourne Park last year that Konta first gave notice that she had the game to take on the best in the world. Extensive work with a sports psychologist had helped Konta rid her game of the mental collapses in big moments that marred the early years of her career and on Monday she explained how she was now able to cope. She told reporters:

When you get to a position where you might see a glimmer of what you have dreamed of as a little girl or what you hoped for, what you've worked so hard for, it can feel kind of an all-or-nothing moment or, 'What if I never get this chance again?'. You have also got to have a good perspective on things, and you've got to keep, I guess, the simple things in mind of what's important to you. Are you healthy? Is your family healthy? Do you have people around you that you love? Do you have people around you that love you? I know it might sound really mundane and simple, but you've got to go back to things that have got substance, and then in the end just trust in the work that you do.

Williams said of Konta: "I have watched her game a lot. She's been doing really, really well, and she hasn't lost yet this year, I don't think (she has once, at Shenzhen). She's been playing really well. She has a very attacking game. I know her game pretty well and I look forward to it."

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s fairytale run continued as she beat American Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-2 in little over an hour – the win means she is through to her first Grand Slam quarter-final since 1999, when she met Steffi Graf in the quarters of Wimbledon.

Monday's highlights

Serena Williams claimed a 7-5 6-4 win over Czech Barbora Strycova to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals. REPORT
Johanna Konta advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after the ninth seed dismantled Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 6-4 in their fourth-round clash on Monday. REPORT
David Goffin recovered from a set down to beat eighth seed Dominic Thiem of Austria 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2 6-2. REPORT
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached her first grand slam quarter-final since the 1999 Wimbledon championships, beating Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-2.

Britwatch

After yesterday’s disappointment of Andy Murray and Dan Evans being knocked out, Konta emerged with yet another dominant and efficient performance to dispatch Ekaterina Makarova.

HIGHLIGHTS: Jo Konta eases into the quarters

Konta eased to the first set in breakneck speed but it was her performance in the second that was most impressive - having fallen 4-1 behind, she ratted off the next five to make the next round.