Simona Halep demolished 28th seed Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1. Photo / AP
Welcome to our live coverage of day 10 of the Australian Open.
The women's semi finalists are decided.
After dominant victory's today, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep and former world No.1 Simona Halep have joined Ash Barty and Sofia Kenin in the final four.
On the men's side of the draw, Alexander Zverev is through to his first Grand Slam semi-final after defeating Stan Wawrinka.
The German recovered from a slow start to race through the final three sets, winning 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2.
Tonight will see Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem battle for the last semi-final spot.
ROD LAVER ARENA
Simona Halep (Rom) [4] defeated Anett Kontaveit (Est) [28] 6-1 6-1
Garbine Muguruza defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) [30] 7-5 6-3
Alexander Zverev (Ger) [7] defeated Stan Wawrinka (Sui) [15] 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
From 7.30pm: Rafael Nadal (Spa) [1] vs Dominic Thiem (Aut) [5]
No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev is through to his first ever Grand Slam semi final after defeating Swiss star Stan Wawrinka in four sets.
Wawrinka looked to continue his impressive form in the Australian Open, claiming the opening set against Zverev. The Swiss star dominated play on Rod Laver Arena early, winning the opening five games and ending the opener in only 25 minutes.
While Zverev could only manage to win 50% of points on first serve in the opening set, Wawrinka faultlessly won 100% of first serve points.
This was the first set German has lost all competition, only winning 11 points.
However, Zverev quickly recovered to equal the scores in the following set, breaking late the claim the second set 6-3. He won 20/20 points on his serve in a remarkable turnaround.
Zverev continued his resurgence in the third set, breaking serve early to take control of the match. The German was awarded two set points on Wawrinka's serve at 5-3, but wasn't able to convert either opportunity.
However, Zverev didn't have to wait long, winning the following game to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The German No. 7 seed was fully in control of the fourth, cruising to a 4-0 lead, only two games away from a spot in the semi finals.
Four games later, Zverev was celebrating his fifth victory of the Australian Open.
After his opening round victory on day one of the tournament, the 22-year-old shocked tennis fans when he said if he could capture his first slam over the next fortnight, he would donate his entire prizemoney ($4.12m) to a local bushfire charity.
He also committed to contributing $10,000 for every match victory while at Melbourne Park.
The winner of this match will face either Rafael Nadal or Dominic Thiem in the semi finals.
Garbine Muguruza is one of four women left standing at the Australian Open after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenko in straight sets this afternoon.
The unseeded Spaniard outlasted her Russian opponent in a gripping first set before enjoying an easier ride in the second to claim a 7-5 6-3 quarter-final victory.
Muguruza will play Simona Halep in the semis while Aussie Ash Barty takes on Sofia Kenin tomorrow for a place in the decider.
Muguruza is a two-time grand slam champion but endured a terrible 2019, which is why she entered the year's first major unseeded. But the former world No. 1 is showing glimpses of the form that netted her French Open (2016) and Wimbledon (2017) titles as her charge continues at Melbourne Park.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has spoken out after her controversial protest, alongside fellow great John McEnroe, against Margaret Court yesterday.
After Navratilova's legends match, she and McEnroe β who have been vocal in their criticism of Court's highly publicised anti-gay views β unfurled a banner that read "Evonne Goolagong Arena".
The pair want a name change of Melbourne Park's Margaret Court Arena to recognise another Australian tennis icon Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Tennis Australia condemned the protest saying Navratilova and McEnroe breached protocols with regards to how any figure can use "the facility, the event and the global stage it provides".
Navratilova apologised for breaking protocol, but stood by her opposition to Court's anti-gay comments.
"I got in trouble, I am sorry. I broke protocol, I had no idea there was this kind of protocol," Navratilova said on the Tennis Channel.
"Had I known, I would have done it differently but I would still have tried to make statement, which is you name buildings after not what people just did on the court, but also off the court β the whole body of work.
"So I said my piece β¦ I stand by that.
"But I do apologise for breaking protocol, I did not mean to do that."
Simona Halep has sent a warning to her rivals by storming into the Australian Open semi-finals after demolishing 28th seed Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1 in just 53 minutes.
The defending Wimbledon champion broke early for a 2-1 lead in the first set and consolidated on serve, then went up a double break when Kontaveit again faltered as Halep surged to 4-1.
The Romanian held serve then broke for a third time to take the set.
Halep's unstoppable charge continued as she raced to a 4-0 lead just 16 minutes into the second set.
The fourth seed made it 11 games on the trot by extending her advantage to 5-0 before Kontaveit finally got on the board by holding serve for the first time in the set.
That was the only joy for the Estonian as Halep iced the match in the next game.
Halep will face Garbine Muguruza in the semis and if she wins that, may face Aussie Ash Barty in the final.
Halep's incredible form will put Barty β who plays her semi-final tomorrow β on notice should they meet in the decider.
Veteran New York Times tennis writer Christopher Clarey is already picking Halep to win the title.
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