Johanna Konta out of Australian Open: Briton's run comes to an end in semi-final against Angelique Kerber

Konta lost 7-5, 6-2 in Melbourne

Johanna Konta (GETTY IMAGES)

The best tournament of Johanna Konta’s life ended in disappointment here today but there was certainly no shame in losing 7-5, 6-2 to Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Kerber, who will face Serena Williams in Saturday’s final, is one of the best athletes in the women’s game and her relentless consistency proved too much for the 24-year-old Briton.

Konta, the first British woman to play in a Grand Slam singles semi-final since Jo Durie at the 1983 US Open, had claimed some significant scalps en route to the last four – most notably those of Venus Williams and Ekatarina Makarova – but the task of beating a highly experienced campaigner who is one of the best athletes in the women’s game proved beyond her.

The match statistics told their own story, with Kerber making just 11 unforced errors to Konta’s 36. Knowing that the world No 6 was capable of retrieving almost any ball that did not land within inches of the lines, Konta kept going for her shots but could not match her opponent’s accuracy.

Kerber had lost in both her previous appearances in Grand Slam semi-finals, but the 28-year-old German worked hard on her fitness over the winter and is now quicker than ever around the court. If she lacks a major weapon in her arsenal she more than makes up for it with her ability to make opponents hit the extra ball.

Konta had shown little signs of nerves in her previous five matches here but in the biggest match of her life the Briton took time to settle. She dropped her first two service games and was soon 3-0 down. The two loose backhands that cost her the third game typified her edgy start, though she insisted afterwards that she had not felt nervous.

However Kerber also took time to find her rhythm and Konta seemed to have turned the first set around when she won the next four games in succession, going 4-3 up by holding her serve to love. Kerber stood firm, however, and at 5-5 the German made the crucial breakthrough.

Angelique Kerber beat Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-2 (EPA)

It was a poor game for Konta, who missed a forehand drive volley, double-faulted, hit a loose backhand beyond the baseline and put a forehand in the net on break point. When Kerber served out for the set she did so to love, completing the job with a forehand winner following a damaging drop shot.

Konta needed to make a good start to the second set, but instead it was Kerber who broke serve in the opening game. Konta, to her credit, held serve at 1-5 to stay in the match, but Kerber saw out victory in the following game.

The resounding applause for Konta as she left the court told you much about how the crowds here have taken to the Briton, who spent the first 13 years of her life in Australia, having been born in Sydney.

Despite her disappointment Konta will have plenty of material consolations. She is expected to climb to No 28 in the world rankings next week, which is an astonishing rise for a player who was the world No 147 going into last summer’s grass-court season. If she can stay around that level in the coming months, when she does not have many ranking points to defend, she will be seeded at the year’s last three Grand Slam tournaments.

Angelique Kerber (GETTY IMAGES)

As a losing semi-finalist Konta’s pay cheque here is for $Aus750,00 (about £371,000), which is easily the biggest of her career. At the start of this tournament her total career earnings stood at $847,551 (about £595,000).

Kerber will be the first German to play in the women’s final here since Anke Huber in 1996, but Williams will be the strong favourite to win her seventh Australian Open title. The world No 1 has never lost a final here and was in superb form in her semi-final, crushing Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-4 in just 64 minutes.

Victory on Saturday would see Williams equal Steffi Graf’s total of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. “I'm really excited to be in another final,” Williams said afterwards. “It blows my mind right now. I just feel like I'm being the best I can be.”