Another day and another seed knocked out of the US Open by Johanna Konta!
The British No.2 continues to be the surprise package at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York as a quite stunning display was too much for No.18 seed Andrea Petkovic.
Konta will now be in the thick of the action during the second week of a Grand Slam for the first ever time after the 7-6(2), 6-3 victory took her unbeaten run to 16 matches.
Despite playing the longest women’s match in US Open history on Thursday against Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza, Konta had the energy to recover from a slow start which saw her go 2-0 down.
Three times she broke the German’s serve to hold the advantage and served for the opener at 6-5 but got pegged back into a tie-break which she dominated to take by seven points to two.
Confidence and momentum was on the 24-year-olds side and 2-0 quickly became 5-1 as the former French Open semi-finalist took a medical timeout after suffering in the heat.
Match points came and went as the fighting Petkovic brought it back to 5-3 but Konta served it out at her second attempt and on her sixth match point when a forehand drifted long.
Konta had never gone further than the second round at a Grand Slam before this year’s assault at Flushing Meadows and now equals Laura Robson’s 2012 effort of reaching Round 4.
The furthest a qualifier has ever gone is the quarter-finals and if Konta is to match the achievement by Barbara Gerken in 1981 she will have to take down two-time Wimbledon winner and No.5 seed Petra Kvitova.
Konta, who will now see her world ranking jump up to a career high of around No.60, said: “It's all a progression. I feel like I've been playing a good level of tennis all year.
“It's always a confidence boost when you get to play against the best players in the world. It was definitely tough because, even if she's not feeling her best, she's one of the best competitors on the tour.
"She definitely didn't give it to me, as you can tell from the last three games."
Go Jo Facts
- Konta is the first British woman qualifier to ever reach the 4th round of the US Open
- She joins only Andy Murray, Sue Barker, Greg Rusedski and Virginia Wade as the only Brits to win six consecutive matches (including qualifying) at the same major in the open era
- Second time in her last three WTA events she has beaten two top 20 WTA players in a row. Konta defeated Makarova and Muguruza at the Aegon International Eastbourne in June.