Serena an underdog vs. Osaka in semis
Serena Williams will be in the rare position of underdog when she plays in her first Australian Open semifinal since 2017 on Thursday.
The 10th-seeded Williams beat second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania in straight sets on Tuesday. Next up for the seven-time champion in Melbourne is No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan, who has won 19 consecutive matches.
Osaka has been installed as the favourite to beat Williams. She has won two of three previous meetings and has won each of the three previous Grand Slam tournaments in which she's reached the quarter-finals.
Osaka lost only four games to SuWei Hsieh of Taiwan in the quarter-finals and hasn't lost more than three games in a set in any match other than her gruelling three-set test against former grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the fourth round.
Williams, 39, scored an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over Halep after struggling to a three-set win against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the fourth round.
Williams is pursuing a record-tying 24th Grand Slam championship.
On the men's side, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic rallied for a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over No. 6 Alexander Zverev of Germany to advance to the semifinals.
It's the ninth time Djokovic has reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and puts him two wins away from his ninth title here. The Serbian is now 80-8 all-time in the tournament.
Djokovic, 33, was broken on the first game of the match, setting his loss in the first set in motion.
“Down to the very last shot, it was anybody's game, anybody's match,” Djokovic said. “A lot of nerves out there, a lot of pressure. Emotionally, (I) feel a little drained, honestly. It was a great battle.”
Djokovic faces Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev — the biggest surprise of the tournament — in the semifinals.
And in women's quarter-finals doubles, Canada's Sharon Fichman and Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos lost in three sets.