Naomi Osaka denied Serena Williams‘ latest bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title and moved one match from a fourth major crown of her own.
Osaka swept Williams 6-3, 6-4 in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday, her 20th consecutive match win since her last defeat in February 2020. The third seed from Japan gets 22nd-seeded American Jennifer Brady or 25th-seeded Czech Karolina Muchova in Saturday’s final.
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Williams, in her 11th major tournament since life-threatening 2017 childbirth, once again came just shy of tying Margaret Court‘s all-time major titles record.