Australian Open: Serena beats Sharapova, cruises into semifinals

World No. 1 Williams said Tuesday that she was enjoying her tennis immensely and plans to keep playing into the 2017 season, proud of her longevity as others have fallen by the wayside.

The gulf between Williams and Sharapova, a former number one and five-times grand slam champion, speaks volumes about the balance of power in the women’s game.

It meant the five-time Grand Slam winner’s demoralising jinx against one of the greatest players ever remains intact.

Roger Federer advanced to his 39th Grand Slam semifinal, beating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.

Wawrinka was the only man to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam match past year – the French Open final – and the last man to beat him at Melbourne Park since 2010.

The win makes Federer the oldest man (34 years, 176 days old) since 1979 to reach the Australian Open semifinals.

A victor of 18 WTA titles, Radwanska will be hoping to put on a better showing than she did in her only previous Australian Open semifinal, when she went down 6-1, 6-2 to Dominika Cibulkova in 2014.

Federer eased past Tomas Berdych 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4 while fourth seed Radwanska thrashed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3 to reach her second semi-final at Melbourne Park.

But that approach is what has helped win her 21 major titles, and Williams’s aggressive returns finally helped her convert on her fourth set point, following a heavy ground stroke to the net and putting away a volley.

He beat Federer in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals a year ago, but Federer was back contending for titles. But Williams worked her way into the match in style, saving break points at 4-4 and winning seven games in a row at one stage.

Radwanska will play the victor of Tuesday’s next match between No. 1 Serena Williams and fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova.

Growing into the match, Williams piled the pressure on Sharapova’s serve but the Russian came from 0-40 down in the eighth game to scrape a gutsy hold.

She had her chances in the quarter-final though, with two break points at the end of the first set, but Williams delivered when it mattered most and it was one-way traffic thereafter. “I felt like, ‘All right, I didn’t make those shots, but if I had made those shots, I probably would have won that game.’ I just clung on to that and knew I could play better”. It dates back to 2004 when she last beat Williams in the Wimbledon final.

“I didn’t hit a tennis ball”, he said in a courtside interview after mowing down seventh seed Nishikori in just over two hours under the floodlights at Rod Laver Arena. “When I’m forced to play better, I do well”. She called the trainer out at the changeover after a tight first set, revealing later she had some “food-poisoning issues”. I don’t know. It’s something about her game. Then Serena must have suddenly remembered that despite her record against Sharapova, she still has to actually play well.

“Nothing’s guaranteed in sports”, she said.

Williams’ opponent in the semifinals will be 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

In her post-match interview on court, Williams told the crowd that she’d started less aggressively than she liked. “She’s been playing really well and already this year she’s been very consistent. So I think it will be a long match and it will be a good match to see where I am”.