SHE’S the new darling of Wimbledon and the first female British player for decades with a realistic shot of winning at SW19.

What’s more she calls Eastbourne home. But who exactly is Johanna Konta and what’s her background?

She was born in sunny Sydney to Hungarian parents - her father Gabor was a hotelier and her mother, Gabriella, a dentist.

Aged eight she was introduced to tennis at school and showed her talent almost straight away.

Her parents knew she had the potential to make a career in the sport and so aged 14 she was put on a plane and sent to the prestigious Sanchez Casal academy in Barcelona.

She spent 15 months away from home undertaking gruelling training sessions. Her family wanted to be closer to her and so moved to Eastbourne.

Johanna and her parents soon fell in love with the town and she became a British citizen in 2012.

She was far from an overnight success and spent her early years as a professional travelling the world to play the smaller tournaments on the world tour, often to no more than a handful of people. But she kept her head down and worked hard, picking up wins here and there as her ranking steadily improved.

Her breakthrough year was in 2015 when she reached the fourth round of the US Open which also saw her enter the top 50. She built on this success in 2016, reaching the semi finals of the Australian Open and winning the Stanford Classic, beating Venus Williams in three sets.

By the end of the year she rocketed into the top ten and the Australian media soon tried to claim her back. - something she was quick to nip in the bud. “It’s a compliment for you guys to be interested in my roots,” she responded, “but I’m very happy to be representing Great Britain. That is my home. That is where my heart is.”

She has continued her upwards trajectory this year: she reached the quarters in Australia and took the Miami Open in impressive style. If she wins at SW19 today she will enter the second week of the Championships for the first time.

Off the court, she shies away from the spotlight. She was in a relationship with her former coach Kether Clouder and is now dating 24-year-old photographer Jackson Wade. But you are unlikely to see her in the pages of Hello any time soon.

She has won more than $5 million in prize money but until recently drove an old Peugeot hatchback. Her sponsors, Jaguar, upgraded her to sporty little red number. She has come a long way since her childhood on Sydney’s northern beaches - quite literally - and we are proud to call her one of ours.