TheCable

Serena Williams’ latest quest for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title was dashed again by Naomi Osaka, the Japanese youngster who defeated her 6-3 6-4 at the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday.

It was a hard-fought straight-sets victory for Osaka who was under early pressure from Williams’ aggressive plays, but she withstood the barrage to humble her role model, denying the 23-time Grand Slam winner another opportunity to equal Margaret Court’s record in Australia.

Osaka previously denied Williams from the record in their last meeting, defeating the American legend at the US Open final in 2018 to create her own bit of history as the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam title.

The latest defeat sees Williams lose her 18-year record of not losing at the semi-final stage of the Australian Open.

Williams broke Osaka in the first game and went on to hold an early 2-0 lead in the first set. But the more athletic 23-year old roared back to win the next five games to open a 5-2 lead before claiming the set at 6-3 in 38 minutes.

The second set was tighter than the first, and although Osaka broke in the first game, both players continued to hold until Williams finally earned her own break of serve to tie 4-4 in the eighth game despite her visible and audible frustrations.

In a set she produced four aces, an undaunted Osaka promptly broke on the next game and served out the match 6-4 after 75 minutes of play despite the crowd cheering on Williams as their favourite.

Osaka, now a three-time Grand Slam winner, also preserved her 20-match unbeaten streak and will look to preserve her record of never losing the finals of a Grand Slam tournament in the weekend’s title decider.

She will face either Jennifer Brady or Karolina Muchova in the final set to take place on Saturday.