Osaka seeks successive Slams

Naomi Osaka never made it past the fourth round at any of the first 10 Grand Slam tournaments of her career. Now, still just 21, she’s suddenly on the verge of a second consecutive major championship. And the No 1 ranking, too.

Osaka moved one victory away from adding the Australian Open trophy to the one she collected four months ago at the U.S. Open, using her smooth power to produce 15 aces and groundstroke winners at will while beating Karolina Plı´sˇkova´ of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinals last night.

‘‘I just told myself to regroup in the third set and just try as hard as I can,’’ said Osaka, who saved four break points in the last set and finished the match with an ace at 185 kph.

A day after erasing four match points and a 5-1 deficit in the third set to stun Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, Plı´sˇkova´ could not produce the same kind of comeback.

Instead it is Osaka, the only Japanese woman to win a major singles title, who will face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova´ on Saturday.

Two years ago, Kvitova´ missed the Australian Open, just weeks after her left hand was stabbed by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic.

Back at her best during what she calls her ‘‘second career,’’ Kvitova´ surged to a 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory against 35th-ranked American Danielle Collins after Rod Laver Arena’s retractable roof was closed as the temperature soared toward 105 degrees (40 Celsius).

Kvitova´ reached her first major final since the December 2016 knife attack that led to hours of surgery on the hand she holds her racket with — and first since winning Wimbledon for the second time in 2014.

‘‘I didn’t know even if I (was) going to play again,’’ Kvitova´ said. ‘‘It’s been a long journey.’’

Against Collins, a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Virginia who was 0-5 at Slams until this one, Kvitova´ was more aggressive throughout, mixing big lefty forehands and well-timed pushes forward to the tune of a 30-9 edge in total winners.

But the key to the outcome might very well have been what happened at 4-all after 35 minutes of action: That’s when the decision finally was made to close the 15,000-seat stadium’s cover, drawing cheers of approval from broiling spectators. Kvitova´ probably wanted to applaud, too.

‘‘I was happier than the fans that the roof closed,’’ she said afterward. ‘‘I like to play indoors. It helped me a little bit.’’

She is not a huge fan of playing in stifling heat. Not too many people truly are, of course, but Collins is OK with it and thought the roof should have stayed open.’’