MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two days after reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, unseeded Magda Linette has done better and is in the Australian Open semifinals.
Linette, 30, beat Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday, adding the former No.1 to the list of best players she has beaten at Melbourne Park in this tournament.
Linette, who had lost seven of the previous nine matches to Pliskova, defeated Anett Kontaveit, Ekaterina Alexandrova and WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia in successive rounds.
A Polish player was favored to reach the final stages of the tournament, but it was seeded Iga Swiatek who everyone was expecting – not Linette.
“It’s so moving I can’t quite believe it,” Linette said. “I tried to stay calm and took my chances when I could.”
Linette will face the winner of the second women’s quarterfinal on Wednesday between No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Donna Vekic. They meet in the semifinals Thursday night.
The other women’s semifinalists were determined on Tuesday. Two-time former Australian champion Victoria Azarenka will face Wimbledon titleholder Elena Rybakina for a chance to make Saturday night’s final. Rybakina defeated Swiatek in the fourth round.
Later Wednesday, the remaining men’s semi-finalists will be determined. Unranked Americans Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul play before nine-time champion Novak Djokovic takes on Andrey Rublev.
Djokovic will be looking to qualify for his 44th Grand Slam semi-final and a win in that match on Friday would advance him to his 33rd major singles final on Sunday night.
The other men’s semi-final on Friday will see third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas take on Karen Khachanov.
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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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