Even though Johanna Konta made the Australian Open quarterfinals without dropping a set, Serena Williams didn’t need too much power to beat the Brit 6-2 6-3 and set up a meeting with surprise semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who had upset Karolina Pliskova earlier in the day.
After strong first two service games, the ninth-seeded Konta was the first to earn a break point, in the third game of the match, but conversion didn’t take place and Williams punished her in the following game by going 3-1 up, as Konta dropped serve only the third time at the 2017 Australian Open. Konta was not bad, but Williams was traditionally super strong and before we knew it the set went into the American’s hands.
In the second set, Konta won three straight games from 0-1, but the second-seeded Williams, supported by fiancé Alexis Ohanian, stopped her opponent’s streak like a boss that she is, powering up to 6-3.
Williams will next play Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, whom she hasn’t faced in 19 years, since 1998! 😀 The other women’s singles semifinal will feature Venus Williams and Coco Vandeweghe. (photos: Jimmie48)
It will be a fun match between Serena and Mirjana. Mirjana has nothing to lose on this match. I think there will be another Serena – Venus final but let’s see if Mirjana and Coco will step up on their respective SF matches.
PS: Kaja and Jo Konta had decent runs. I think they’ll do more damage this year.
Mirjana played brilliantly against Kaja and I don’t expect her to be intimidated by Serena, although we all know how hard it is to actually beat Serena.
Yep, as usual the GOAT, Serena Williams, keeps on going like the Energizer bunny and coming up with the victory. This 35-year-old woman is simply amazing, and so is her 36-year-old big sister! She put it to Konta, just as I figured she would. What an exciting match, however! Now I can’t wait to see the final between both living legends, Serena and Venus Williams. “Go, Williams sisters, go!”