MELBOURNE, Australia – Serena Williams once again reached a 24th Grand Slam title, playing well enough on Thursday to reach the final days of a major tournament. And again, Williams failed to finish, as she was defeated 6-3 6-4 by Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semifinals.
Osaka, the tournament’s third seed, will attempt his fourth major championship on Saturday when he faces 25th. Seed Karolina Muchova or 22nd American Jennifer Brady.
Osaka, 23, joined two other players to win each of his first two clashes with Williams. Williams’ sister Venus won her first three major meetings at the 1998 Australian Open, at Wimbledon in 2000 and at the United States Open in 2001. The other is Jennifer Capriati at the 2001 French Open and at Wimbledon in 2001, according to the ESPN Stats & Information survey.
“I don’t know if there are any children here today, but I was a child watching her play and just being on the court playing against her is a dream for me,” said Osaka during an interview on the court after the victory. “And I think the biggest thing I have learned over the years is that you are a competitor, you are playing against another competitor – and that is the most fun part, because tennis is a game.”
Williams won the first two games before Osaka took control with a streak of five games. Osaka broke Williams to start the second set and went on his way.
Williams’ forehand was wrong throughout the match and she ended up with 24 unforced mistakes and only 12 winners.
Spectators returned to the Rod Laver Arena stands on Thursday after being prevented from participating in the tournament for five days during a local COVID-19 blockade. About 7,000 people were able to enter the Williams-Osaka stadium, almost half the capacity.
Ushers walked down the corridors in the passageways to remind fans that they needed to wear masks or cover their nose and mouth.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.