Jo Konta survives injury scare to beat Petra Kvitova and keep Wimbledon dream alive

JO KONTA survived an injury scare to keep her Wimbledon dream alive.

The British No1 hurt her left ankle on Centre Court and needed a pain-relieving spray on her  foot plus heavy strapping before beating Petra Kvitova 4-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

But Konta, 28, reckons she will be fine for today’s last-eight clash with unseeded Barbora Strycova.

She said: “It’s quite normal for me. It often happens. I’ll tape it up and see how I wake up with it.

“I just tripped over my own foot, tweaked my ankle a little bit. It was sore.

“I just wanted to put some tape on it to have extra support. That’s about it. It’s fine.”

Konta, the No.19 seed, came from behind for the second successive match to beat the two-time Wimbledon singles champion.

Heartbroken Kvitova, 29, almost never made this tournament because of an arm injury.

She has only played in two Grand Slam quarter-finals since recovering from a horrific knife attack in December 2016.

The Czech star said: “I felt no energy in my legs so I couldn’t move that well but in the third I was pumped again.

“She was really on fire and I had my chances but I didn’t take them.

“It’s been a long time since I reached the second week here and it’s great to be back in this opposition again after five years.

“After everything I’ve been through, I’m really happy just to be feeling positive again.”

Konta has only played Strycova once and that ended in a defeat in Tokyo in 2017.

Strycova, the world No54, is playing in her 17th Wimbledon, and she said: “The crowd will be against me.

“But I really don’t mind. I like these kind of matches and playing on big courts. That’s why I train for it. That’s why I am here. I will try to enjoy myself.

“Jo is at home. She will be maybe the favourite. So the pressure will be little bit on her. I’ll just go out there and enjoy it.”