Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) – It may not be an all-Williams
semifinal at the Australian Open, but two Americans will be squaring off as
Serena Williams and Madison Keys won their respective matches on Wednesday.
Keys continued her stunning run with a three-set win over a revived Venus
Williams, while Serena Williams cruised past Dominika Cibulkova in 64 minutes.
Keys, who never before appeared past the third round of a Grand Slam, battled
through a thigh injury and overcame 45 unforced errors to pull out a 6-3, 4-6,
6-4 victory over her older countrymate.
The unseeded 19-year-old cruised in the first set but struggled with a thigh
injury in the second. Venus took that set with an ace, and the third fittingly
went back-and-forth.
Venus, who was seeded 18th and came into the match 9-0 on the year, twice went
up a break, and Keys promptly answered with one of her own.
Up 5-4 on Williams’ serve, Keys closed things out with four consecutive points
at love. On match point, she caught Williams on her heels with a deep forehand
that was returned into the net.
At 34-years-old, Venus was trying to become the oldest woman to reach a Grand
Slam semifinal in decades. She had her sights set on a potential eighth major
and a Grand Slam matchup with her sister for the first time since the 2009
Wimbledon final.
The top-seeded Serena looks poised for her sixth Aussie title and 19th major
overall after running through last year’s runner-up, 6-2, 6-2.
The 11th-seeded Cibulkova stood no chance against the focused superstar, who
fired 15 aces and 31 winners in the one-sided match.
Serena and Keys have never met before, while the other women’s semifinal pits
Maria Sharapova against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
