Serena Williams moves into Australian Open Semifinals as Naomi Osaka awaits

Serena Williams’ question for Major No. 24 is still alive.

Moving well, serving big and cracking his hand, no. 10 Williams defeated No. 2 Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the Australian Open semifinals. The win was her 362nd in prime place, tying Roger Federer the most ever. And he took some revenge on Serena for the straight set hits that Halep inflicted on her in the 2019 Wimbledon final.

The game was played without fans as the five-day lockout with the Victorian government follows a recent revolt of Covid-19 issues.

Serena’s path to the 24th Grand Slam title won’t be easier to tie as she will now face No. 3 Naomi Osaka, who led Hsieh Su-wei in Taiwan, 6-2, 6-2.

“Now I can play Naomi,” Williams told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs in her post-match interview. “Honestly, everything benefits because the offseason was tough for me. I’m excited to have gotten this far and of course I’m going to keep going and going.

“But it’s amazing to still be in the competition.”

Williams had to pull out of the French Open last fall due to an Achilles injury first sustained at the U.S. Open. She had previously said that if the Australian Open had started on time last month, and she had not been pushed back due to the pandemic, she would not have been able to play the tournament.

Osaka lead Serena 2-1, with Osaka winning the only time they met at a Grand Slam in the 2018 U.S. Open final. Williams is 8-0 in the Australian Open semifinals. She has won seven of her 23 majors Down Under.

At 39, Williams is 16 years older than Osaka, who won the U.S. Open last year for her third major career title.

Williams has won her last 12 games against a top-3 opponent. She could have beaten the top three players in the world to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 majors. World No. 1 Ash Barty ties in the top half of the draw, where two other Americans, Jen Brady and Jessica Pegula, are also slated to meet in quarterback. With Serena’s influence, two American women promise to make the semifinals.

The game turned in the seventh game of the second set when Williams won the sixth chance break point by knocking out Halep in a long-running rally that ended with Halep attacking a forecourt. into the web.

Serena then maintained a love for a 5-3 lead.

She then won it on her second game point with a big preseason winner up the line. After trailing 3-1 in the second set, Serena stopped five straight games to win the game.

Williams said population will not help keep her anxiety levels down.

“It definitely keeps my worries down a lot, especially on game points because you don’t have to hear the crowd go crazy and prepare you for the game point,” she said. “And as well as that, it’s also like ‘Oh my god,’ I’m a little anxious.

“It’s great to be able to play those points and shut them out a little easier,” she said.

Serena came out firing on all cylinders, attacking the pre-court return winner off Halep’s service on the first point of the game. She took control of the first set with her service, advance and full movement.

Williams said she was “working hard on her fitness” because she had “crazy clothes that I wanted to look good in.” ”

“I’m a good natural mover, I’ve been fast in my career so when I’m not fast it’s unnatural for me so it’s like I’m going back to the roots, ”she said.

Williams now has two wins away from history. She won her last Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia.

Since then she is 0-4 in the Grand Slam finals, and also lost in last year’s U.S. Open semis to Victoria Azarenka.