Serena Williams remains heavy on 23 major titles after losing to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open Semifinals

Serena Williams has now played 11 Grand Slam events since winning her 23rd major title at the 2017 Australian Open.

And 11 times, she has come to a point without winning the No. 24 top spot.

At 39, time is running out.

In a game that was expected not only in the world of tennis but the greatest sporting world, No. 3 Naomi Osaka easily put No. 10 Serena, 6-3, 6-4, in the Australian Open semifinals to play on in front of a crowd of 7,500, or 50 percent of Rod Laver Arena’s capacity. This was Osaka’s 21st straight prize and Serena’s first ever loss in the Australian Open semifinals after she won her first eight.

“I don’t know if there are any small children out here today but I was the little one who watched the play, and just being on the court playing against it, for me, it’s a dream, ”Osaka told Jim Courier in her -court interview. “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned over the years is that you are a competitor but that you are playing against another competitor. That in itself is the funniest part because tennis is a game. ”

Osaka, who is 23 years younger than Williams, has played three of the last five majors on hard courts, and will now try to win her fourth place in Saturday’s final against America Jen Brady or Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

Playing her usual big game with silent confidence, Osaka progressed to 3-1 against Serena, including the controversial 2018 U.S. Open final in which it was built by a sentimental New York crowd that Serena was kidnapped by the umpire Carlos Ramos.

Since the decisive U.S. Open game, Osaka has won three Grand Slam titles and Williams has none. Serena has been 0-4 in the Grand Slam finals since becoming a mother in the fall of 2017, and is now missing in the semis in back majors in New York and Melbourne.

Williams entered the tournament inspired by the success of 43-year-old quarterback Tom Brady, who won his seventh Super Bowl on Feb. 7 with the Buccaneers.

Serena progressed well through her first five rounds, including a straight set win over Simona Halep’s No. 2 world.

Against Osaka, she got off to a strong start, breaking in the first leg of the game and then holding for a 2-0 lead. But then Osaka stopped five straight games as Serena struggled with her front hand and served. Osaka took the first set with a big pre-winner up the line.

Williams was 2-of-7 on rest points, while Osaka was a perfect 4-of-4.

“I was just leading [on Serena’s serve], I don’t know, ”she joked. “It either goes like this or so, I just put my foot somewhere. ”

After Serena broke back to get to 4-all in the second set, she had a chance to give up a 5-4 lead but surrendered to her service by going 0-for-4 on the first service in the game. Osaka learned the break with a nifty two-handed backhand.

Osaka then closed the match on his service to reach the fourth Grand Slam final.

Asked about the advantage of having the Grand Slam finals against the first finals in Brady or Muchova, Osaka said, “I don’t want to be numb to someone but I am the hope that one of them becomes anxious. ”

Serena will now turn to the French Open and then Wimbledon to try and win No. 24.

Many in the world of tennis, including Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe, would love to see Serena connect and finally break Court record.

A court, to which one of the major courts of presentation at the Australian Open has been named, has a history of offensive and homophobic views.

“There’s just one thing beyond Margaret Court’s list of tennis achievements: this is her list of offensive and homophobic statements,” McEnroe said last year at this event.

“Just a few examples. During the apartheid regime in South Africa, she said: ‘I love South Africa. Their racial situation is better organized than anyone else ‘. What?

“For transgender and LGBTIQ children: ‘It’s the devil’s job… tennis is full of lesbians… it’s hard for children to be open to homosexuality’.

“Serena, do me a favor: get two more Grand Slams this year and reach 25, so that we can access Margaret Court and her offensive ideas in the past, where they both belong. ”