Naomi Osaka made little of the challenge to overcome 23-time major champion Serena Williams winning 6-3, 6-4 – and requiring just one hour and 15 minutes to do so.
Osaka has never lost at a Grand Slam after making the quarter-finals stage and swept past Williams who had never previously lost at the tournament after making the last four.
Following the defeat, Williams gave a lengthy wave goodbye to the limited crowd on Rod Laver Arena for potentially the last time as the star turns 40-years-old later this year.
Williams once again fell short on her 11th attempt to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles and was withdrawn to tears in a post-match press conference when questioned about her future: ‘If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone,’ she said.
Before abruptly ending the conference saying: ‘I don’t know, I’m done.’
Osaka could be the long-term successor of Williams in the women’s game as the 23-year-old already has three Grand Slams under her belt and will look to add a second Australian Open to that haul when she faces off against first-time slam finalist Jennifer Brady on Saturday.
The 22nd-seed survived a valiant comeback from Karolina Muchova to eventually win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in one hour and 55 minutes.
Meanwhile in the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic ended qualifier Aslan Karatsev’s historic run to the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, victory over the Russian after one hour and 53 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
The world No 1 looked at his imperious best striking 30 winners in the match to put to rest any doubts over his fitness before the final – whereas Karatsev struck 30 unforced errors throughout the match in a nervy performance at his first-ever Grand Slam.
With Rafael Nadal’s defeat in the quarter-finals guaranteeing Djokovic will break Roger Federer’s record of 311 weeks as the top-ranked player in the world, the Serbian will look to close the gap on the two tennis legends for the most Grand Slam victories by winning his ninth Australian Open title and 18th slam in total to move within two of them on Sunday evening.
Djokovic awaits his opponent as Daniil Medvedev and Stefano Tsitsipas face off in the other semi-final on Friday evening.
Elsewhere, it was another successful day for the British contingent in Melbourne as Joe Salisbury partnered with the American Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles, reached the semi-finals with a straight-set victory over British compatriot Neal Skupski and his Slovenian partner Andreja Klepac.
