A REMATCH of the 2018 US Open final will take place on Saturday for the 2021 Australian Open semi-final between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams. For the rising Osaka, she will attempt to win her fourth Grand Slam, and second Australian Open – having won in 2019 – while Williams is gunning for a record-equalling 24th major title. While both players will still need two wins to do it, it promises to be a blockbuster semi-final.

In the quarter finals, both players won through in straight sets as Williams took down second seed Simona Halep 6-3 6-3 in convincing fashion. The match lasted just 81 minutes as the greatest player of the modern era left nothing on the court as she powered her way to victory. Slamming home 24 winners to nine, and only the 33 unforced errors to 19, the two differing styles were on show.

“I feel like I needed to have a good performance today, especially after my last match against her,” Williams said post-match. “So it was really important to try to play well today. … I knew I couldn’t play worse [than last time]. So that was a good thing.”

In the end, it was Williams’ six breaks to three that was the difference, as her serving – whilst inconsistent at 55 per cent – was hard to match when in with a 77 per cent success rate off her first serve. Williams also served four aces and hit five return winners in an impressive smashing.

Earlier in the day two-time Grand Slam winner Osaka breezed past giant-killer Hsieh Su-Wei, ending the run of the Chinese Taipei talent. The Japanese star won 6-2 6-2 in a quick 66 minutes to book her spot in the final four. Near unbeatable off her first serve, Osaka only dropped two points (23 of 25) and produced seven aces.

“Today it was really important to have a plan, just because she’s an opponent that I’m not really sure what’s going to happen,” Osaka said post-match. “So just having something to structure myself and not get carried away with what she’s going to do was definitely really important.”

Remarkably, it could have been even more clinical, as Osaka only served at 48 per cent efficiency. She was much stronger off her service game though, as Su-Wei won just 13 of 52 points, whilst Osaka was impressive on the return with a 42 per cent success rate. The third seed also capitalised on four of 12 break point opportunities, whilst saving three chances for her opponent. With 10 more winners (24-14) and nine less unforced errors (14-23), Osaka was dominant in her victory.

“I feel like every time I play her, it’s really challenging because I never know exactly what she’s going to do with the ball,” Osaka said. “I think today I just really focused on my game plan. I think it was kind of very clear what I thought I had to do.”

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[10] Serena Williams (USA) defeated [2] Simona Halep (ROU) 6-3 6-3
[3] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated Su-Wei Hsieh (TAI) 6-2 6-2

Picture credit: Getty Images