French Open 2019: Johanna Konta beats Sloane Stephens to reach semi-finals at Roland Garros

Follow live updates as Jo Konta tries to continue her stunning run at Roland Garros against the talented American, Sloane Stephens

Johanna Konta has beaten Sloane Stephens to reach the semi-finals of the French Open.

Konta becomes the first British woman to reach the last four at Roland Garros for 35 years, after a hugely impressive 6-1 6-4 win over the American.

She will now face either Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova or Petra Martic of Croatia in the last four.

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Key Points

• Briton beats American 6-1 6-4
• Konta becomes first British woman since 1983 to reach last four of French Open
• She will face either Marketa Vondrousova or Petra Martic in the semi-finals

[4 June 2019 11:40 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Hello and welcome along to our live coverage of Britain's Jo Konta against America's Sloane Stephens, where a place in the semi-finals of the French Open is at stake. Sam will be along shortly with all the build-up – in the meantime, here's our tennis writer Paul Newman ahead of this major match for both players:

[4 June 2019 12:39 · Samuel Lovett]

Right, just over 20 mins to go folks. After a disappointing 2018, Konta looks to have found her form this year and today has the chance to become the first British woman since 1983 to reach the French Open semi-finals.

Konta, seeded 26th, only claimed her maiden first-round victory on the Paris clay against German qualifier Antonia Lottner last week.

The former world No 4 fought off sickness to battle past American Lauren Davis in the second round, then eased past young Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova and Croatian 23rd seed Donna Vekic to reach the last eight.

She's up against Sloane Stephens today - a player she knows all too well having faced off with the American in Rome and Brisbane before that. She won both those matches but, with the intense pressure of a Grand Slam making for an altogether different encounter, there's only so much we can read into their previous meetings.

[4 June 2019 12:44 · Samuel Lovett]

Anne Keothavong, Konta's Fed Cup captain, has backed the Briton to reach new heights this season.

Until this year, Konta had never won a main-draw match at Roland Garros. 

For Keothavong, this is a sign of things to come. "A lot of things are coming together but she can go up a few more levels if pushed," she told BBC Sport.

"Jo has played some fantastic tennis and the best thing is she can play even better - she is still very much playing within herself."

[4 June 2019 12:51 · Samuel Lovett]

A reminder that Stephens is one of only three top-10 seeded players left in the women's draw. She's joined by defending champion Simona Halep and eighth seed Ashleigh Barty.

It's proven to be an unpredictable tournament so far, with the likes of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka both making early exits.

For Konta, she's fully aware of the opportunity now in front of her.

"It's nice for people to also enjoy matches where nothing's a given and it can be unpredictable," said Konta. "That's the beauty of sport, to have battles where you're not sure what the end result is going to be until it happens."

Asked if there was a feeling everyone was beatable, she replied: "I think that's been the growing mood for quite some time now."

[4 June 2019 12:59 · Samuel Lovett]

What's Stephens been saying in the build-up to today's match?

The American is hopeful that the Roland Garros clay will prove to be the "neutraliser" in her showdown with Konta.

Stephens, the runner-up in Paris last year, suggested the slate would be wiped clean ahead of their last-eight meeting on Court Philippe-Chatrier, having lost their last two meetings.

"Clay is a neutraliser. It's good for everybody... she's improved her results on clay, so she obviously is feeling good on the surface," Stephens said.

"A quarter-final of a slam is definitely a neutraliser. There's a lot of factors that go into that. (I'm) just going to go out and execute and I'm sure she'll do the same and we'll have a good match.

"She has a good, all-around solid game. I mean, obviously she's been at the top of the game before, so she knows how to play in key moments."

[4 June 2019 13:01 · Samuel Lovett]

Okay, here we go! Out the two women come onto Court Philippe-Chatrier. The arena is looking pretty sparsely populated, but I imagine that'll change once things heat up.

[4 June 2019 13:06 · Samuel Lovett]

The two players are knocking a few balls back and forth for their warm-up. We'll be under way shortly

[4 June 2019 13:09 · Samuel Lovett]

Konta 0-0 Stephens* (*denotes next server)

The Briton will serve first to get this match underway.

[4 June 2019 13:13 · Samuel Lovett]

Konta 0-0 Stephens*

After some nervy serving from the Brit - handing Stephens the initiative to take the opening two points - Konta has eventually found her form to fire down an ace. 30-30.

[4 June 2019 13:15 · Samuel Lovett]

Konta 0-0 Stephens*

After taking the game to advantage, Konta slips up with a sloppy double fault. 40-40.

She recovers her advantage though after Stephens proves unable to return a fierce serve from the Briton.