Icon: enlarge
Serena Williams made it through to the semi-finals with ease
Photo: LOREN ELLIOTT / REUTERS
Serena Williams has come a step closer to setting the most important Grand Slam record.
The long-time tennis world number one moved into the semifinals of the Australian Open for the ninth time with an impressive 6: 3, 6: 3 over Simona Halep from Romania and thus still has the chance of her 24th title in one of the four most important tournaments .
The 39-year-old American last won a Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne in 2017 and has since been chasing the all-time record for Australian Margaret Court. For Williams, it was also the 362nd victory in a Grand Slam match, making her the best hired by Roger Federer.
“That was the best match I've played in this tournament so far.
I knew I had to improve, ”said Serena Williams after her success over ex-finalist Halep.
Only at the beginning of the second set did the seven-time Australia winner go through a small phase of weakness, then she dominated the world number two with her still powerful tennis.
In the semifinals on Thursday, Serena Williams will meet Naomi Osaka.
The 2019 Melbourne winner prevailed 6-2, 6-2 against Hsieh Su-Wei from Taiwan.
In just 66 minutes, the 23-year-old Japanese won her game against the twelve-year-old Hsieh Su-Wei from Taiwan.
"She's such a strong player and an inspiration off the field too," said Williams of Osaka, who lost her in the 2018 US Open final.
In the quarter-finals on Wednesday the world number one Ashleigh Barty from Australia and the Czech Karolina Muchova as well as the Americans Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady, trained by the German Michael Geserer, face each other.
Icon: The mirror
aha / dpa / sid