Pliskova ends Serena’s hopes
Karolina Pliskova saved four match points to send seven-times champion Serena Williams crashing out of the Australian Open.
Seventh-seeded Pliskova rallied from 5-1 down in a tense deciding set to advance to her first semifinal at Melbourne Park with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory over the American yesterday.
‘‘I was almost in the lockerroom but now I am standing here as a winner — it is a very good feeling,’’ Pliskova said after the two-hour, 10-minute battle on Rod Laver Arena.
‘‘She was playing very well, especially at the end of the second set. She went for her shots and she was aggressive and I played too passive.
‘‘I said, ‘Let’s try this game 5-2, maybe I will have a couple of chances’. She got a little bit shaky in the end so I took my chances and I won.’’
The Czech will play Japanese fourth seed and reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka in today’s semifinals, while Williams remains stranded one grand slam shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record 24 major singles titles.
Williams looked set to wrap up the match comfortably, up 5-1 in the third set, but she appeared to jar her left ankle on her first match point with Pliskova.
With the American seemingly troubled by the injury, Pliskova seized the opportunity to fight her way back into the match and proceeded to win the next six games to seal an unlikely victory.
Pliskova is unbeaten this year after winning the season-opening Brisbane International.
The loss once again dashes Williams’ hopes in Melbourne of matching Court’s long-standing record after the 37-year-old also fell just short at Wimbledon and the US Open as a beaten finalist.
Pliskova’s previous best grand slam result was a loss in the 2016 US Open final to Angelique Kerber, while she’s never previously gone further than the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.
Osaka swept past Elina Svitolina to her semifinal berth.
The US Open champion blasted her way to a 6-4 6-1 win over the sixth-seeded Ukrainian, who sought treatment for a neck injury midway through the second set.
The other women’s semifinal pits Petra Kvitova, who beat Aussie hope Ashleigh Barty 6-1 6-4 on Tuesday night, against unseeded American Danielle Collins.
The biggest threat Osaka faced on Rod Laver Arena was when she was chased by a bee just before wrapping up the match, with Svitolina off her game.
Osaka, 21, said she tried to work on keeping her focus after having been taken to three sets in her last two matches.
‘‘For me today I just had one goal and that was to try as hard as I can get and not get angry,’’ Osaka said.
‘‘I didn’t do that well in the last two rounds so that was my only goal and I think I did it well so I’m really happy with the way I played.
‘‘She is a really great player and it is kind of unfortunate that she got injured but playing against her even when she was injured was still really tough.’’
The world No 4 had too much power and poise for Svitolina, who was in good form heading into the match and high on confidence after winning the WTA Finals title late last year.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is just one win away from a fifth Australian Open final after dismantling young American talent Frances Tiafoe in their quarterfinal clash late on Tuesday night.
Nadal barely put a foot wrong on Rod Laver Arena, holding serve throughout a clinical 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory in one hour and 47 minutes.
Chasing his 18th grand slam title, the Spanish second seed will meet Roger Federer’s fourthround conqueror Stefanos Tsitsipas in today’s semifinal.
Also advancing to the semifinal was Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who beat Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4.