Australian Open: Serena beats Simona Halep & will face Naomi Osaka in semis
■ Djokovic, Serena in semis
Melbourne, Feb. 16: Novak Djokovic smashed his racquet to bits and then swept Alexander Zverev out of the Australian Open as the defending champion followed Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka into the semi-finals on Tuesday.
It was a patchy performance from the world number one, who is nursing an abdominal injury and drew deeply on his mental fortitude to win 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 64, 7-6 (8/6).
Djokovic will be hot favourite to reach Sunday’s final when he plays Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who continued his dream run with a 2-6, 64, 6-1, 6-2 win against injured Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
After destroying his racquet as he slipped behind in the third, Djokovic recovered brilliantly to take the set and he was icecool on the big points, drilling an ace to seal the decisive tiebreaker.
“Down to the very last shot it was anybody’s match,” said the 33-yearold Serb.
“A lot of nerves out there, a lot of pressure. Emotionally I feel a little bit drained, honestly.”
The Serb remains on track for a record-extending ninth Australian Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy, nipping at the heels of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who both have 20.
Earlier, Williams took a step towards a recordequalling 24th Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-3 dismantling of second seed Simona Halep, her nemesis in the 2019 Wimbledon final. Williams, 39, said her level was improving ahead of her meeting with Japan’s Osaka, who came out on top in their tempestuous 2018 US Open title match.
Their semi-final promises much after Osaka, the reigning US Open champion, looked in formidable touch in her 6-2, 6-2 win over Taiwan’s Hsieh Suwei.
Elsewhere, 114th-ranked Karatsev became the first man to reach an Open-era Grand Slam semi on debut when he ousted a hobbling Dimitrov 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
The 27-year-old has knocked out three seeds as he became the lowestranked player to reach a major semi-final after world number 125 Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 2001.