United States' Serena Williams leaves Rod Laver Arena after losing her quarterfinal to Karolina Pliskova. Photo / AP
United States' Serena Williams leaves Rod Laver Arena after losing her quarterfinal to Karolina Pliskova. Photo / AP
Highlights from day 10 of the Australian Open.
8.50pm: Pouille reaches first semifinal
Lucas Pouille has reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time with a 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win over 16th-seeded Milos Raonic, a major reversal of form at Melbourne Park after losing in the first round here in the previous five years.
Pouille entered the quarterfinal 0-3 against Raonic in career meetings — including a first-rounder here in 2016 — but targeted the 2016 Wimbledon finalist's second serve and was only broken once himself in the match.
The No. 28-seeded Pouille had break points in the seventh and ninth games of the third set but Raonic saved and, after an outburst against the chair umpire in the 12th game, dominated the tiebreaker.
The fourth set was on serve until Pouille, who is coached by former Australian Open women's champion Amelie Mauresmo, broke in the last game.
He will next play either six-time Australian titlist Novak Djokovic or eighth-seeded Kei Nishikori.
8pm: Raonic fires up at umpire
Milos Raonic was absolutely fuming after being denied a point when a successful challenge in the first set went in his favour. Despite Pouille missing the return shot, the umpire called for the point to be replayed.
"It's because you don't watch, you're incapable!" Raonic exploded.
The decision forced the set to a tiebreak but it appeared to only light a fire in the belly of the former World No. 3 as he closed it out comfortably.
6.35pm: Raonic drops two in a row
Canadian star Milos Raonic had Lucas Pouille on the ropes early after snagging a crucial break but eventually dropped the set to the Frenchman as the underdog found his feet at 5-2.
A ferocious fightback at the net resulting in a handful of blistering winners brought Poullie back into the game as the set went to a tiebreak.
A thunderous forehand winner down the line sealed the deal for Poullie at 6-4 in the tiebreak.
Things didn't get much better for the Canadian as he dropped the second set 6-3 to Pouille. The 28-year-old struggled with his first serves and eventually succumbled to the Frenchman's superior placement.
Incredibly Pouille had never stolen a set off Raonic in their three previous matches.
5.20pm: Pliskova completes miracle comeback
Karolina Pliskova had Serena Williams in early trouble. Photo / Getty
Serena Williams suffered an ankle injury and choked from 5-1 up in the final set as Karolina Pliskova completed a miracle Australian Open comeback to beat the American 6-4 4-6 7-5 and advance to the semi-finals.
Williams charged through the early part of the third set to lead 5-1 before appearing to roll her ankle and from there it was all Pliskova.
The Czech rattling off six straight games to advance past a broken Williams.
Pliskova saved three match points when serving at 4-5 and kept it going to send Serena out as the American netted a forehand, after saving two match points herself.
Pliskova, who had played brilliant power tennis in the first set-and-a-half faltered when she got ahead in the second and from their Williams seemed set to charge through the match.
The 23-time slam champion broke Pliskova to lead 3-1 in the third and did so again to make it 5-1 but she failed to serve it out and indeed appeared to suffer an ankle sprain during that game.
From there Pliskova fought back to 4-5 and saved two match points in that game before going on to serve out the match.
The pair hit an amazing 86 winners between them for the match, of which Williams hammered 54 but her 37 unforced errors, compared to 15 from Pliskova ultimately proved to be her undoing.
5.10pm: Serena in pain with ankle sprain
Serena Williams appears to have suffered a slight injury to her ankle and rolled it when hitting a backhand.
Ever since then Pliskova has charged back into the match to get it back to 5-5 from 5-1 down, saving three match points along the way.
It was big trouble for the GOAT. Serena went down a set and a break to Pliskova as Williams continues to make unforced errors.
It took two break points for the Czech to go up 3-2 in the second set but Williams broke back immediately to get things back on serve and now leads 4-3.
Still the unforced errors keep mounting and perhaps her prolonged fourth round match against Simona Halep has hurt her going into this because her movement is sluggish and she is dumping an alarming amount of balls into the net.
Serena Williams makes a forehand return to Karolina Pliskova. Photo / AP
3.50pm: Serena loses first set
Serena Williams was shocked when she coughed up an early break against Karolina Pliskova in their quarter-final.
The Czech star took a 3-1 advantage in the first set and life looked like it was about to get a whole lot worse for Williams as she faced three break points. However, the American fought her way back to deuce and after a couple more momentum shifts finally won the game to keep herself in the contest at 2-3.
Serena Williams in a world of trouble right now... Unforced errors killing the American.#AusOpen
Pliskova may have missed the opportunity to go up a double break but she still had enough composure to take her chances on serve as she wrapped up the first set 6-4.
She was dominant on serve throughout the opening set as she avoided facing a single break point.
2.30pm: Osaka steamrolls Svitolina
Elina Svitolina called for the trainer when she went down 0-3 in the second set after losing the first, and looked crushed as she bowed her head while waiting on the chair.
She appeared to be getting treated for a shoulder/back issue and received physio as she called for a medical timeout.
Osaka kept running with the momentum when play resumed, racing to a 5-0 lead before Svitolina finally got on the board. The Japanese star then had no trouble serving out the match for a 6-4 6-1 win.
Naomi Osaka hits a return during her quarterfinal match. Photo / Getty
Osaka, who won her first major at last year's US Open, is the first player since Kim Clijsters in 2006 to make the semis of the next major after winning their maiden grand slam.
She's also the first Japanese woman to reach the final four at the Australian Open since Kimiko Date in 1994.
"It's unfortunate that she got injured. Playing against her, even when she was injured was still really tough," Osaka said.
"For me, my goal was to try as hard as I can and not get angry."
Osaka was keen to get out of the Melbourne heat and the loveable star made everyone in the crowd laugh as she apologised for wanting to cut her on-court interview short.
"Honestly, I'm just trying to go inside because it's a little bit hot right now," she laughed.
12.30pm: Kvitova breaks down
Petra Kvitova watched the Australian Open from a distance two years ago, a month after she was injured in a violent home invasion.
Then she lost in the first round last year, and conceded she hadn't returned to a standard that earned her two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
Until now, that is. So she knew the question was coming, perhaps overdue. Still, after her 6-1, 6-4 win over Ash Barty on Tuesday night, the question in an on-court interview reduced her to tears.
She was asked if she'd ever doubted, ever lost belief that she'd be back in this moment . She had just qualified for her first major semifinal since her run to the 2014 Wimbledon title. There was barely a dry eye in the arena.
As she paused to take in a breath and wipe away tears, the encouragement and cheers from the crowd intensified and reached a crescendo after almost 20 seconds to allow Kvitova to respond to Jim Courier's question.
"Thank you guys. Um, no, really," she said. "I didn't really imagine to me playing on this great stadium and play with the best."
Later she explained the tears were "a mix of emotions of everything I've been through."
"Sometimes I'm not really recognizing anything from the past," she said. "But when Jim asked that, it wasn't really easy for me to kind of see myself being in a semifinal after everything."
Since her return to the majors at the French Open in 2017, she has had two first-round exits, two second-round losess, two in the third. The highlight was a run to the 2017 U.S. Open quarterfinals.
Now she's on a 10-match winning run, having also beaten Barty for the title in Sydney in the week leading up to the Australian Open, and feeling like she's back in the big time.
"For sure. I'm calling it my 'second career.' So it's the first semifinal of the 'second career,'" Kvitova said. "But, yeah, it took me a while, for sure. I never really played so well on the Grand Slams, so I'm happy this time it's different. I'm really enjoying it."
And she really is. Her five wins have been in straight sets in an average time of about 1 hour, 6 minutes.
The difference is fewer nerves, more job satisfaction and more freedom.
"I'm seeing life a little bit differently compared with before. I know it's just the sport, it's just the tennis," she said. "Always when you're doing something, you want to do best. Of course, losing, it hurts a lot because you are doing everything for it.
"On the other hand ... I'm always looking back and see what I achieved from the time (before the violent attack). It's always both sides. But in the end, always the life wins."
She'll play Danielle Collins next, and is one of the few people who entered the tournament who could have predicted the American's run so far.
Petra Kvitova celebrates during her quarterfinal victory. Photo / Getty
Collins has a 5-5 career record in Grand Slam matches. It was 0-5 when she got to Melbourne this month. She has taken out three seeded players, including a 6-0, 6-2 win over three-time major champion Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.
In the quarterfinals, she came back to overpower Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 — conceding only three points in the third as she raced to a 5-0 lead.
Collins took Kvitova to three long sets at the Brisbane International, her first match of the season. So Kvitova, who like Kerber is left-handed, is wary.
"I won it, but it was over three hours," Kvitova said of her semifinal rival. "She's very fearless and she's playing very, very aggressive."
Collins said she had followed Kvitova's career, and admired the 28-year-old Czech player, but was ready to make her win No. 6 in her hot streak.
"She's an incredible champion, has gone through a lot," Collins said. "We had a really great battle a couple weeks ago, one of the best matches I've played. I didn't even win that match. So very familiar with her. Looking forward to the next match."
Kvitova recalled Collins having a chance to serve out that match in Brisbane, and said she would need to be better to win again.
But on second thought, she said: "It's a semifinal, so, who cares?"
"I always wanted to come back and play on the highest level, compete with the best, play the Grand Slams, actually be very deep in the Grand Slam, which is happening," Kvitova said of her second-time-around run to the semifinals. "Yeah, it just took me a bit to the tears, but it was happy tears, for sure."
12.10pm: Nadal keeps his kit on
Frances Tiafoe has made a habit of taking his shirt off and beating his chest when celebrating wins at Melbourne Park but Rafael Nadal wasn't going to follow suit when he ended the American's dream run on Tuesday night.
The Spaniard defeated Tiafoe 6-3 6-4 6-2 and things took an interesting turn in his on-court interview with John McEnroe, who encouraged the veteran to get his kit off.
JM: I'm assuming you've noticed in a couple of Frances Tiafoe's wins that he tore his shirt off when he won ... do you ever get tempted to do that with the body you've got?
RN: No, to be honest I don't have his body.
JM: You could have fooled me, it looks pretty damn good to me.
RN: You can do it, I cannot.
JM: You don't want to see mine. Would you care to do it for the crowd just one time?
The crowd roared enthusiastically at McEnroe's suggestion but Nadal's shirt was staying firmly on his body, much to (some of) the fans' disappointment.
11.30am: Coach issues scary Serena warning
After passing her biggest test of the Australian Open with a win over world No. 1 Simona Halep, Serena Williams is ready to claim another grand slam title according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Williams is out to match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 majors after falling just short at the US Open and Wimbledon last year as a beaten finalist. Ahead of her quarter-final showdown with Karolina Pliskova at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, her long-time mentor said Williams was finally back to her physical and mental peak since giving birth 16 months ago.
In her last Australian Open appearance in 2017, Williams won the title when pregnant with daughter Olympia.
"I think she's fitter than she was last year, because even though she made a lot of effort to come back in shape last year, I don't think she had enough time," Mouratoglou said.
"For a top-level athlete to come back and be 100 per cent fit after having a baby any time, I think there was not enough time.
"I feel now she's back to being Serena, on both the physical and emotional side." Mouratoglou said that while she wasn't lacking motivation, it was too early last year for Williams to return to her grand slam-winning ways.
Serena Williams is back to her physical best, according to her coach. Photo / Getty
"She was very motivated last year, but it was just too early for her," he said. "She was ready to reach a final but there is a big difference between reaching a final and winning it.
"I didn't want to say it when she lost, because it sounds like an excuse, but you cannot buy time — things take time."
Mouratoglou's seven-year partnership with Williams was under pressure when she was given a warning in the US Open final loss to Naomi Osaka for off-court coaching.
That led to a Williams' meltdown, with Mouratoglou admitting after the match he had been coaching despite her denials.
But the Frenchman wasn't worried Williams would blame him or even axe him as coach.
"I hope that our seven years' relationship is a bit stronger than a chair umpire," he said.
"She's much too smart to do that — it's not a reason for taking a decision that would have an impact on your future.
"I think she's also very responsible and doesn't blame others for her problems."
Day 10 preview
Naomi Osaka's clash with Elina Svitolina kicks off a day of tantalising match-ups that will finalise the Australian Open semi-final line-ups on Wednesday.
The Japanese world No. 4 and sixth-seeded Ukranian Svitolina are first up at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday with Osaka out to build on her breakthrough US Open triumph last year.
A victory would put the 21-year-old on course for a semi-final rematch of her controversial showdown with Serena Williams in the Flushing Meadows decider.
Williams, who had a meltdown at a chair umpire in that match, is set to face towering Czech Karolina Pliskova in Wednesday's early-afternoon clash. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and unheralded American Danielle Collins will meet in the other semi-final on Thursday.
Kvitova vanquished Australian hope Ashleigh Barty in straight sets on Tuesday night, while Collins downed Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Florida native Collins continued her dream run in her first main-draw appearance at Melbourne Park, having never won a game at a major prior to the tournament.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic's quarter-final clash with Frenchman Lucas Pouille kicks off the men's action on Wednesday.
The winner will face either Serbian top seed Novak Djokovic or Japan's Kei Nishikori, who will clash in the night session on Rod Laver Arena. Gunning for a seventh Australian Open crown, Djokovic will be hoping to capitalise on marathon man Nishikori having spent almost 14 hours on court in a gruelling run to the final eight.
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday night dismantled rising American Frances Tiafoe to set up a semi-final meeting with Greek prodigy Stefanos Tsitsipas.
