Konta and Venus beaten in San Jose, Azarenka injured

Johanna Konta whas sent packing from the WTA’s Silicon Valley Classic with a 7-6(4) 6-3 quarter-final loss to fourth seed Elise Mertens.

The Briton had opened the tournament with a bang on Tuesday when she shocked 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-1 6-0, the worst loss of the American great’s career.

Konta was unable to recreate the magic, however, instead squandering a 5-2 lead in the opening set against the Belgian before bowing out meekly.

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Mertens, bidding for her fourth title of the year, now moves into a semifinal against fifth-seeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Sakkari Stunner! ????@mariasakkari knocks out Venus Williams 6-4, 7-6(2).

Advances to semifinals at @MubadalaSVC! pic.twitter.com/x7r2s0Zw3U

— WTA (@WTA) August 4, 2018

American Danielle Collins also moved into the semis when former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka retired injured early in the second set after claiming the first in a tiebreaker.

Azarenka grabbed her right leg in the opening game of the second set, lost the first three games and was evaluated by a trainer and doctor before retiring prior to the fourth game.

“I really wanted to make the match as physical as possible because that’s one of my weapons, and that’s something I felt I could really expose on her,” said Collins.

Collins reaches her second semifinal of the year and will play Maria Sakkari of Greece, who upset third seed Venus Williams 6-4 7-6(2) on Friday.

Sakkari’s win was all the more impressive after she came back from 0-3 down in the first set and 3-5 behind in the second set.

“I’m not very big; I’m strong, but I don’t have a big serve,” said Sakkari.

“I have to play with my weapons, and my weapons are my physical condition, being solid inside the court, and making a lot of balls.”