Australian Open: Serena, Osaka win to set up semi-final clash, Karatsev makes history

SERENA Williams, in search of a record 24th Grand Slam singles title, beat Simona Halep 6-3 6-3 in a highly-anticipated match-up that produced a flurry of gripping rallies to set up a blockbuster women’s singles semi-final at Australian Open 2021 against Naomi Osaka. 

The semi-final against Osaka will be the first time these two players have met at a Slam since the 2018 US Open final, when Osaka won her first major.

Earlier in the day, Osaka claimed a comfortable Australian Open women’s singles quarter-final win over dangerous Su-Wei Hsieh on Tuesday.

In a flawless showing from the Japanese third seed, she clobbered 24 winners and lost only two points on her first serve in a 6-2 6-2 victory – her 19th straight, dating back to February last year.

It was the first time two women of different Asian nationalities had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal and this shaped as one of Osaka’s trickiest obstacles to a fourth major.

Osaka led their head-to-head count 4-1. However, all but one of their meetings had gone the distance, including their third-round meeting at Australian Open 2019, a match in which Osaka rebounded from a set and 4-1 down to triumph.

In the men’s singles event, Russian Aslan Karatsev’s fairytale run has continued, the unheralded qualifier becoming the first man in the Open Era to reach a semi-final on his Grand Slam debut after earning a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 upset win over an injury-saddled Grigor Dimitrov.

“Of course, it’s [an] unbelievable feeling … first time playing main draw, first time [making] semis, it’s incredible,” said Karatsev, securing victory in two hours and 32 minutes to guarantee a minimum prize money cheque of at least $A850,000 ($US662,000), more than his total career winnings of approximately $US618,000.

With the victory, Karatsev becomes the second qualifier to reach the last four at the Australian Open, and just the fifth qualifier to reach a major men’s semi-final at a Grand Slam in the Open Era. Tuesday’s win was his fifth at Australian Open 2021; he entered the tournament with just three ATP-level victories since 2015.

ausopen.com