Johanna Konta beats Venus Williams in Miami Open

BRITISH tennis continues to grow in stature as Johanna Konta surprised many by beating record breaking multi Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in straight sets 6-4 7-5 to become the first British woman to reach the Miami Open final.

With the seeds falling all through the competition, Konta seeded 10, one place above Williams, will go on to meet number 12 seed the Dane Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

At one time, these ‘smaller’ tournaments did not attract all of the world’s leading players, but as prize money has increased and the circuit has become more competitive, so Miami has to be considered a serious feather in her cap if she wins and moves up to be ranked world number seven.