Johanna Konta beat Romanian No 2 seed Simona Halep to become Britain’s first women’s Wimbledon semi-finalist since 1978.
The Australian-raised Konta, 26, fought back to win 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and match Virginia Wade’s feat of 39 years ago.
Halep, 25, would have replaced Germany’s Angelique Kerber at the top of the rankings with victory over Konta, but Czech Karolina Pliskova will instead be the new world No 1.
Five-time champion Venus Williams won in her 100th singles match at Wimbledon to knock out French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko and reach the semi-finals.
Williams earned a 6-3, 7-5 victory against the 20-year-old Latvian in 73 minutes on Centre Court to set up a semi-final with Konta.
Garbine Muguruza reached her second Wimbledon semi-final with a powerful 6-3, 6-4 victory over No 7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
American Williams, 37, is the oldest player to reach the last four since Martina Navratilova in 1994, but says she doesn’t think about her age.
‘I feel quite capable, to be honest, and powerful,’ she said. ‘So whatever age that is, as long as I feel like that, then I know that I can contend for titles every time.’
Williams, competing at her 20th Wimbledon, is just one victory away from her ninth final at SW19 – eight years after her last appearance. She has not won a Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2008.
Earlier, on a rain-affected day, Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals with a straight-set victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino.
In a match delayed from Monday, the world No 4 beat Mannarino – ranked 51 in the world – 6-2, 7-6, (7-5) 6-4.
The Serb appeared unhappy with the condition of Centre Court and also received treatment on his right shoulder during the match.
The 30-year-old will face Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals.
When asked about his shoulder, Djokovic said: ‘We’ll see. It has something which has been dragging back and forth for a while, but I am still managing to play.’
The match was due to be played on Monday on Court One but was postponed following Rafael Nadal and Gilles Muller’s near five-hour marathon.
Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
