VENUS ENDS OZ OPEN DROUGHT
Venus Williams beats Pavlyuchenkova to finally advance to the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in 14 years
It was a long time coming for Venus Williams, who reached her 21st Grand Slam semifinal but her first at the Australian Open in 14 years.
CoCo Vandeweghe advanced to her first major semifinal, anywhere, beating Grand Slam winners in back-to-back rounds. The one sure outcome when they meet this week will be an American in the final at Melbourne Park.
There'll be an all-Swiss semifinal in the top half of the men's draw after 17-time major winner Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka won their quarterfinals in straight sets.
Returning from a six-month injury layoff, the 35-year-old Federer lifted his game in 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 win over Mischa Zverev, the player who eliminated top-seed- ed Andy Murray from the tournament two nights earlier.
Federer won the first five games in 12 minutes, setting up a straight-forward win to reach his 41st Grand Slam semifinal and his 13th at Melbourne Park.
"I'm pleased with the way I started the match ... after that, naturally everything's easier," Federer said. "Second set was definitely a key to shut it down for him. Then in the third set I think I was rolling."
The 36-year-old Williams beat No. 24-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday, becoming the oldest player to reach the semifinals here in the Open era.
She'll be meeting a confident Vandeweghe, who dictated play against French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in a 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal win.
The No. 35-ranked Vandeweghe upset top-ranked Angelique Kerber.
“I’d like to be a champion, in particular this year. The mentality I walk on court with is: ‘I deserve this’.”
SERENA WILLIAMS