Australian Open day nine: Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka set up semi-final tie
The story of the ninth day of action from Melbourne Park.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will face off in a blockbuster Australian Open semi-final after both impressed on Tuesday.
Williams gained revenge for her 2019 Wimbledon final defeat by beating Simona Halep 6-3 6-3 while Osaka was a 6-2 6-2 winner against the tricky Hsieh Su-wei.
Novak Djokovic battled to a 6-7 (6) 6-2 6-4 7-6 (6) victory over Alexander Zverev and next faces remarkable qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who took full advantage of Grigor Dimitrov being hampered by a back spasm.
Picture of the day
Quote of the day
Don’t give up the day job
“I wasn’t going to do anything but I saw everyone else writing cool things,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is my chance to hopefully draw something cute’. Then it turned out ugly. And you can’t even tell what it is. So, yeah, it’s a cat.”
Fallen seeds
Women: Simona Halep (2)
Men: Alexander Zverev (6), Grigor Dimitrov (18)
Who’s up next?
Russian friends Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev face each other while Ashleigh Barty plays Karolina Muchova and Jennifer Brady meets Jessica Pegula in the women’s last eight.
In the men’s doubles, British duo Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury are both in action with their respective partners, while wheelchair star Alfie Hewett goes for his first Australian Open singles title.
