THE year 1984 might not have panned out exactly as George Orwell had predicted but it was still notable for Miners Strike and the Libyan Embassy siege. Over at the genteel surroundings of Wimbledon, Jo Durie was reaching the last eight, an achievement which had gone unmatched by any British player until another Jo, Konta, took her place in the Wimbledon quarter finals yesterday. There is something hugely impressive about the way this 26-year-old - born in Sydney, trained in Spain and now resident in Eastbourne - has shouldered the burden of home favouritism and never more so than when she came through this 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 win against Caroline Garcia. This was a French opponent forecast to take over the world by as sound a judge as Andy Murray back in 2009, but Konta held her nerve to progress in a manner which made it easy to forget that prior to this year she had only won a solitary match at this venue.

She may have blinked when serving out for the first set - stopping play to challenge a ball which she felt had gone long but actually hit the line didn’t help - but she had that professionalism and poise back in time to boss the tie-breaker. The match appeared to be getting away from her as she went down a double break in the second But when the 21-year-old netted on match point, the place in the quarter finals was hers, Konta throwing her racket in the air and falling to her knees in ecstasy. The heady thought of an historic British double remains on track.

“It’s very exciting,” said Konta afterwards. “It’s another step forward to being involved in the event for the full two weeks. But it is a massive compliment to me. It’s a great achievement.”

Just like her second round encounter with Donna Vekic, the margins had been wager thin. Playing in front of the home crowd may have been one difference maker. “Again, it was a very close match,” she added. “I stayed mentally quite tough. I tried to really just knuckle down on every single point I could. She was serving very, very well, so it definitely wasn’t easy to be active in her service games. I just kept on trying to get some momentum and some points under my belt. The home crowd were incredible. They were an absolute pleasure to play in front of.”

Konta is a woman on a mission and never more so than in her next match, against Romania’s Simona Halep. While the No 2 seed here has the incentive of claiming top spot - due to Angelique Kerber’s epic three-set loss to Garbine Muguruza - Konta may fancy a spot of revenge for a 6-1, 6-3 defeat on Fed Cup duty, a controversial tie where Konta complained of being verbally abused by Romanian captain Ilie Nastase. “I’m playing against another tennis player, another opponent,” she said. “I’m not playing against a crowd. I’m not playing against a past experience. They [the crowd, who booed her] were not in my shoes. They were not being verbally threatened. I think it’s very difficult for them to understand my position in it.

“She’s playing very, very well,” Konta added. “I’m looking forward to playing her because, again, she’ll definitely challenge me. I’m really looking forward to playing someone who’s playing such great tennis.”

Another secret of Konta’s success is her audition or a part in the Great British Bake Off or such like, using a new found over to provide an array of baked goods for her team each day. “It’s kind of become a habit,” she said. “My team are demanding the muffins. Today I had white chocolate and raspberry muffins. Previous to that it was a chocolate chip muffin. So I’m thinking that if I’ve got time tonight, maybe tomorrow it will be a chocolate chip and banana muffin, though I’m getting a lot of pressure to make a banana nut muffin from a certain member of my team, but I’m holding strong.” A British male and female winner in the same year, that really would take the cake.