Once again, Serena Williams came within reach of a 24th Grand Slam singles title with a record draw, playing well enough to reach the final days of a major tournament. And again, Williams failed to finish – defeated 6-3 6-4 by Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday (Wednesday night EST).
Spectators returned to the stands on Thursday, after being prevented from participating in the tournament for five days during a local event. COVID-19 lockdown. About 7,000 people were allowed to enter the stadium for the Williams-Osaka slope, almost half the capacity.
Osaka, who also won Williams in the chaotic 2018 US Open final, reached his fourth title fight and extended his winning streak to 20 games.
The third-placed Osaka also won the US Open last year, along with the Australian Open in 2019.
DAVID GRAY / AFP through Getty Images
On Saturday, at 7:30 pm local time (3:30 am EST), Osaka will meet one of the Grand Slam finalists for the first time in the championship. No. 22, Jennifer Brady, from the United States, was scheduled to face No. 25 Karolina Muchova in Thursday’s second semifinal.
A men’s semifinal was scheduled for Thursday: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against Aslan Karatsev, a qualifier from Russia who is ranked 114th and playing his first Grand Slam tournament.
Djokovic seeks the ninth Australian Open title and the 18th Grand Slam trophy overall.
Rafael Nadal – who lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas after blowing up a two-set lead – and Roger Federer are tied for the men’s record of 20.
On the hottest day of the hard court tournament so far – 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) – Osaka had an unstable start, perhaps spurred on to press in his opening service game by a big backhand winner at Williams’ cross-court in the second point of departure.
This was followed by a double fault, a wild forehand and, eventually, a marked backhand that delivered a break. Williams quickly moved up 2-0, then maintained another breakpoint with a chance to lead 3-0 after another double failure by Osaka.
It didn’t take long for Osaka to straighten up, however.
BRANDON MALONE / AFP via Getty Images
After losing to Osaka, the retirement issue came up for Williams. She was asked at a news conference whether that was her way of saying goodbye.
“If I said goodbye,” she replied with a smile, “I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
When the next question returned the conversation to the subject of Williams’ many mistakes against Osaka – twice as many forced mistakes, 24, as the winners, 12 – she shook her head.
Williams finally started to cry and said, “I’m done” before leaving the press room.