Serena laid back after ousting Sharapova in q-final

Serena Williams, left, has beaten Maria Sharapova 18 straight times after a 6-4, 6-1 win Tuesday morning. But American superstar then won the next five games to win 6-4 6-1 in 92 minutes.

Ahead of the Williams-Sharapova showdown, Radwanska, also a semi-finalist a year ago, said she did not mind who she faced in the last four clash on Thursday.

Sharapova is “an incredibly intense, focused player who was number one and has won so many Grand Slams for a reason”.

“When you’re playing someone like that who is so great you have to play with fire and intensity”. But we’ll see. I think if I do play her, it will be a really good match.

“I just knew after the first set that I wanted to start playing the way I have been, that got me to the quarterfinals, so I was just trying to do that”.

Sharapova noted Williams started the opening set with four big serves, so she didn’t think it hampered the 34-year-old American’s game.

“Physically I’m feeling a lot better, mentally I needed that break after the Open”, she said, but “I didn’t think I would do this well this fast”.

Top-seeded Serena Williams of the United States advanced to the Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday by continuing her dominance over fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russian Federation with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Williams attacked Sharapova’s strength, targeting the five-time Grand Slam winner’s improving serve.

The points were short early in the set, but as the match progressed the rallies got longer and longer.

Murray’s wife, Kim, is due to have their first baby next month and he promised he’d fly back to Britain at any time if she went into labor – even if it meant missing a chance at a drought-breaking fifth Australian final. I know very well how good he plays, especially in the later stages of a major event.

“I felt like I really committed myself…it’s just a great thing to be in the final after taking such a long time off”.

The win makes Federer the oldest man since 1979 to reach the Australian Open semifinals. I’ve done everything that I didn’t want to do, you know.

But as she’s demonstrated many times in her career, putting the tennis rackets away for a while obviously agrees with her.

In her fourth-round win against No. 12 Belinda Bencic she had a career-high 21 aces.

Sharapova, 28, held on valiantly in an eight-minute game to claw her way back to 4-4, but the pressure told in game 10 and Williams clinched the set at the fourth opportunity with a volley. I’m just really looking at me right now. I haven’t played any lefties yet. Djokovic, though, has won their last three tussles at grand slams. In contrast, the aces were starting to fly off the Williams racquet as she held for 3-3.

“I think if you’re serving maybe 180 (kph) against somebody else compared to Serena, that’s an ace”.

The grunts were getting louder and with the match in the balance at 4-4, two crashing forehand winners, one from each player, were greeted with screeches of celebration. “I’m happy to have that and I’ll be ready for the semi”, she said. I like the way she hits the ball.

Williams will play Agnieszka Radwanska next, who has yet to lose a match in 2016.

That break seemed to take the wind out of Sharapova’s sails as the former world number one struggled to stay with Williams, as shown by her inconsistency and struggles on serve.