The unstoppable Serena Williams reached a 40th Grand Slam semi-final Tuesday, overpowering second seed Simona Halep to book an Australian Open last-four showdown with Naomi Osaka.
The clinical seven-time champion, in her 20th Australian Open and 77th Grand Slam, was simply too intense in beating the Romanian 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.
“Definitely think this is the best match I have played this tournament, for sure,” said 10th seed Williams, who is another step closer to a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
“Obviously I had to be going up against the number two in the world, so I knew I had to do better, and that’s what I did and I’m excited.”
The 39-year-old, 23-time major winner has lost four Slam finals while chasing Margaret Court’s all-time mark since her last major victory at Melbourne Park in 2017 while pregnant.
Japan’s Osaka stands between Williams and a place in another decider after the third seed crushed Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei 6-2, 6-2.
The ultra-consistent Halep had only beaten Williams twice in 11 meetings going back a decade, but destroyed her 6-2, 6-2 the last time they met, in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
But Williams came out all guns blazing to hold serve then forced a break point with a searing cross-court backhand, taking a 2-0 lead when Halep sent a forehand long.
The Romanian, Williams’ highest-ranked opponent since defeating then number two Osaka at Toronto in 2019, settled down and immediately broke back.
The driven American finally held serve to level the set at 3-3 and in a mammoth, and decisive, six-minute game featuring a 20-shot rally edged ahead 4-3 on her sixth break point.
There was no way back for a dejected Halep as Williams held serve then took the honours on her second match point.
