By Adrianna Outlaw | Saturday, October 8, 2016
Johanna Konta broke through a historic barrier in Beijing.
Konta conquered Madison Keys, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4, to advance to her first China Open final and become the fourth British woman in history to crack the WTA Top 10.
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The 14th-ranked Konta will become the first British woman since Jo Durie 32 years ago to reach the Top 10.
Konta joins Virginia Wade, Sue Barker and Durie as the fourth Briton to attain Top 10 status.
The 11th-seeded Konta will face third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in Sunday's final. Radwanska defeated 16th-seeded Elina Svitolina, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in one hour, 41 minutes.
"The whole match was very tight," Radwanska said. "I think I started very well. She's a great fighter. She came back as well.
"I'm just so happy to make a third final in Beijing. It cannot be any better. I'm just going to enjoy the final tomorrow and hopefully I can show some good tennis."
Konta converted five of 17 break-point chances and exploited nine double faults from Keys in a two hour, 35-minute victory.
"It's pretty special," Konta said of reaching the final. "I'm just enjoying being here. I'm just trying to prolong it as possible. I feel very blessed to be coming back here tomorrow to play the final."
The key to beating the powerful Keys was to keep grinding and countering, Konta said after the match.
"I don't think there really is a secret," Konta said. "She's such a high-quality player. She has such weight of shots. I'm pretty sure I was cleaning the back of the court there. She was keeping me back. I really just tried to run down as many balls as I could and really just take the chances I got."
Konta, who defeated Venus Williams to claim her first career title in Stanford over the summer, is aiming for her second championship.