Overnight at the Australian Open - Serena overwhelms Konta, emotional Lucic-Baroni and ’Baby Fed'
Updated 25/01/2017 at 15:44 GMT
Everything you need to know from the overnight action at Melbourne Park, with the last of the Brits departing, Serena being Serena, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni rightly getting emotional and Grigor Dimitrov fulfilling his potential.
Serena Williams provided a timely reminder of why she remains the player to beat with a ruthless exhibition of tennis against Jo Konta.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner’s serve wavered, with only 50% of her first serves hitting the target over the course of the match. Yet, she also served 10 aces and 25 winners during her one hour and 15 minutes on court.
The six-time winner will face off against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni whose fairytale run at the Australian Open continues after she downed Karolina Pliskova 6-4 3-6 6-4.
"I can't believe this, this is crazy. I can't believe I'm in semi-finals again. I feel a little bit in shock right now."
"I know this means a lot to every player to reach the semi-finals. But to me this is overwhelming, I will never, never forget this day and this last couple of weeks," she said, fighting back the tears.
"This has truly made my life and everything that happened okay.
"The fact I was this strong and could fight this hard is incredible. I kind of want to be known as amazing fighter, a person who persevered against everything, against all odds. And that's what I take pride in."
Grigor Dimitrov produced arguably the performance of the night as he dismantled David Goffin 6-3 6-2 6-4 to progress to the semi-final for the first time in his career.
Dimitrov, 25, has made it known he is no fan of the ‘Baby Fed’ moniker he has long been subjected to, but his repertoire is remarkably similar to that of Federer’s, and it was in full show against Goffin.
The former world number eight has won 10 matches on the spin having won the Brisbane international tune up event earlier this month.
TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
- Mirjana Lucic-Baroni continued her fairytale run at the Australian Open by advancing to her first Melbourne Park semi-final with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over fifth seed Karolina Pliskova. REPORT
- Serena Williams remained on course for her 23rd grand slam title by quelling the challenge of in-form Briton Johanna Konta 6-2 6-3. REPORT
- Grigor Dimitrov dismantled 11th seed David Goffin 6-3 6-2 6-4 in their Australian Open quarter-final on Wednesday to advance to his second grand slam semi-final. REPORT
BRITWATCH
From tomorrow, BRITWATCH is no more; a relic of better times when there was British interest in the first slam of the year.
Alas, joining Jo Konta on the plane home is Gordon Reid, who lost his first first-round wheelchair singles match against Joachim Gerard 7-5 5-7 7-5.
STAT OF THE DAY
A great tournament for the number 35.
RESPECT
Want to know why Serena is the GOAT? Look no further…
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