An irrepressible Serena Williams kept her record-breaking Grand Slam dream alive Wednesday by beating Johanna Konta to make the Australian Open semi-final, where she will meet fellow veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
The American joined sister Venus
in the last four after stepping up a level to oust the dangerous Briton
6-2, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena and end her nine-match winning streak.
Her battling victory keeps intact a potential all-Williams final, with Venus needing to get past fellow American Coco Vandeweghe in the other semi-final to set-up the nostalgic showdown.
But first Serena must beat former teenage prodigy Lucic-Baroni, who upset fifth seed Karolina Pliskova to continue her heart-warming comeback after her career was derailed by personal issues.
Australian Open
Irrepressible Serena powers into semis
The American joined sister Venus in the last four after stepping up a level to oust the dangerous Johanna Konta.
play
Serena
Williams of the US hits a return against Britain's Johanna Konta during
their Australian Open quarter-final match, in Melbourne, on January 25,
2017(AFP)
An irrepressible Serena Williams kept her record-breaking Grand Slam dream alive Wednesday by beating Johanna Konta to make the Australian Open semi-final, where she will meet fellow veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
The American joined sister Venus
in the last four after stepping up a level to oust the dangerous Briton
6-2, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena and end her nine-match winning streak.
Her battling victory keeps intact a potential all-Williams final, with Venus needing to get past fellow American Coco Vandeweghe in the other semi-final to set-up the nostalgic showdown.
But first Serena must beat former teenage prodigy Lucic-Baroni, who upset fifth seed Karolina Pliskova to continue her heart-warming comeback after her career was derailed by personal issues.
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inRead invented by Tead"She played so well, she's definitely a future champion here for sure," Williams said of ninth-seeded Konta. "I'm really happy to get through that.
"I
got a little frustrated, but I told myself, stop complaining. Don't be
'Baby-rena'. I admit I complain a lot. That's my thing. I try to just
have fun, and try to enjoy the moment out here."
The
victory over Konta, who had been in impeccable touch heading into the
match, marked an incredible 10th successive Grand Slam semi-final for
Williams, and her 34th overall, reinforcing the 35-year-old's remarkable
consistency.
She has refused to talk about the possibility of finally surpassing Steffi Graf to win a 23rd Grand Slam and take sole ownership of the Open-era record.
But Williams now has a real chance of doing so to further cement her place as perhaps the greatest player of all time.
If she achieves the goal of winning a seventh Australian Open, it will also propel her back to world number one, after Angelique Kerber snatched the accolade from her last year.
Service problems
play
Croatia's
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni celebrates her Australian Open quarter-final
victory over Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova, in Melbourne, on
January 25, 2017(AFP)
In
the first meeting between the pair, Konta showed intent by winning the
opening point but Williams settled to hold serve, before the Briton
served to love.
Williams was struggling
with her first serve, with just one in three finding their mark in the
opening encounters and she had to fend off a break point in the third
game, raising her arms in the air when she finally won with an ace.
But
it was Konta under pressure in the next game with Williams unloading
some powerful ground strokes, forcing a backhand error from the Briton
to go 3-1 in front.
Williams is known for
her pounding forehand winners, but her baseline weapon had been lacking
its usual punch in Melbourne, until now.
She
began hitting some ferocious shots that Konta struggled to counter and
the decorated American raced through the first set in 35 minutes.
Before the match, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said
Williams must start moving better around the court to counter Konta's
lightning fast game, and she seemed to have taken the advice to heart.
But
her service game continued to cause problems with too many first serves
called out, handing Konta a chance on the second and she broke for a
2-1 lead in the second set when Williams shunted a forehand wide.
But back-to-back aces on Williams' next service game helped her confidence and she broke back to level the scores at 3-3.
Konta,
25, who made the semi-finals last year in a breakthrough season,
remained calm and collected but she could do nothing to stop Williams as
she moved up another gear to close out the match.
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