Serena takes on Osaka in Aussie Open semis

MELBOURNE • Serena Williams will be in the rare position of underdog on Thursday when she plays in her first Australian Open semifinal since 2017.

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 third-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 has reached the quarter-finals.

Osaka lost only four games to Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan in the quarter-finals and has not 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 808 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 semis.

Karatsev, 27, upset No. 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to become the first player in the Open Era to reach a semifinal in his maiden Grand Slam appearance.

And in women's quarter-finals doubles, Canada's Sharon Fichman and Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos lost in three sets.