Britain's Johanna Konta admits her fairytale run at the US Open was like a "childhood dream come true" after she was knocked out by Petra Kvitova in the last 16.

Konta, ranked 97th in the world, defied all expectations to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows but Kvitova proved a step too far as the Czech sealed a 7-5 6-3 victory.

It is the first time Konta has gone past the second round at a grand slam and wins against ninth seed Garbine Muguruza and 18th seed Andrea Petkovic will see her climb into the world's top 60 at the end of the tournament.

The 24-year-old was certainly not outclassed either under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium as Kvitova had to survive five break points in the first set en route to a hard-fought win.

Konta said: "It's obviously not the result I wanted.

"It would have been nice to have kept my run here going but I played against an incredibly tough player.

"She doesn't give you much rhythm. She definitely doesn't give you many chances to be able to take control in a point.

"So it was very difficult for me out there. But I had an amazing time on Ashe to be honest.

"My mum actually reminded me when I was speaking to her yesterday that when we were here back in like 2007 for juniors, I said, 'This is like the most amazing stadium'.

"I completely forgot about that. I guess I had a little childhood dream come true, so that's pretty special."

Konta had won 16 consecutive matches before the defeat and her success has been aided by the help of a 'mental coach', who has been working with the Briton since the end of last year.

The British No.2's composure, however, let her down momentarily as she served a double fault to concede the first set, and another to drop a break in the second.

"I wouldn't call it stage fright. I think if it were stage fright we would have seen it at the beginning of the match," Konta said.

"I think she played really well when she was break points down.

"Obviously, you know, I'm not that happy with how I double-faulted but in all fairness, whether it was a conscious thing or not, she puts pressure on my serves, on any servers. She looks to step in.

"She really does take some swings at the ball. A lot of them do go in. That's why she is top five.

"Maybe I consciously or subconsciously felt that. But honestly I felt I was trying to serve the same and just trying to do my best out there."

Kvitova is through to her first quarter-final at the US Open and she will now play Italy's Flavia Pennetta for a place in the last four.

The two-time major champion admitted she knew little about Konta before the match but was impressed with what she came up against.

"She really has had a great tournament," Kvitova said.

"She beat Muguruza, she beat Petkovic - it's not really easy players.

"I think if she's going to keep that level which she showed on the centre court, as well, she can be a really good player."