Once again, Serena Williams has reached within the reach of a 24th Grand Slam singles title, playing well enough to reach the final days of a major tournament. And once again, Williams could not manage it – beat Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4 in the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday (Wednesday night EST).
Spectators were on the scene again on Thursday after being banned from attending the tournament for five days at a local event COVID-19 restriction. About 7,000 people were allowed into the stadium for the Williams-Osaka tilt, about half the capacity.
Osaka, who also beat Williams in the chaotic U.S. Open final of 2018, reached her fourth major title game and stretched her winning streak to 20 games.
The No. 3 seed Osaka also won the U.S. Open last year, along with the 2019 Australian Open.
DAVID GRAY / AFP via Getty Images
On Saturday, at 19:30 local time (03:30 EST), Osaka will meet a first Grand Slam finalist for the championship. Nr. 22 Jennifer Brady of the United States would tackle Karolina Muchova, number 25, in the second semifinal of Thursday.
One semifinal round for men was on Thursday’s schedule: no. 1 Novak Djokovic against Aslan Karatsev, a Russian qualifier who finishes 114th and plays in his first Grand Slam tournament.
Djokovic is looking for a ninth Australian Open title and an overall 18th Grand Slam trophy.
Rafael Nadal – who lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals after a two-set lead – and Roger Federer are tied with the men’s record of 20.
On the hottest day of the hard track tournament so far – 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) – Osaka got off to a shaky start, perhaps prompted to push into its opening service match by a thriving back-to-back winner from the back of Williams. the second point of the match.
This was followed by a double fault, a wild forehead and finally a chopped backhand that gave a breather. Williams quickly went up 2-0 and then maintained a break point again with a chance to take a 3-0 lead after another double error by Osaka.
Osaka, however, did not last long.
BRANDON MALONE / AFP via Getty Images
After losing to Osaka, Williams raised questions about retirement. She was asked at a news conference if that was her way of saying goodbye.
“If I ever say goodbye,” she replied with a smile, “I will not tell anyone.”
When the next question brought the conversation back to the topic of Williams’ many mistakes against Osaka – twice as many unforced errors, 24, as winners, 12 – she shook her head.
Williams finally started crying and said, “I’m done” before leaving the press room.