(Melbourne) Two days after reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, Madga Linette has now reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis tournament.
The 30-year-old Linette defeated Karolina Pliskova in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday, adding the former world number one to the list of players she has beaten at Melbourne Park during the tournament.
Linette, who had lost seven of her last nine meetings against Pliskova, defeated Anette Kontaveit, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Caroline Garcia, the ATP Finals champion, in a row.
A Polish woman was among the favorites to reach the last rounds of the tournament, but it was rather Iga Swiatek that everyone was waiting for, and not Linette.
“It’s so emotional, I can’t really believe it,” Linette said. I tried to stay calm and took my chances when I could. »
Linette will face the winner of Wednesday’s duel between fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Donna Vekic.
The other players to participate in the semi-finals were announced on Tuesday. Victoria Azarenka, double champion in Melbourne, and Elena Rybakina, defending champion at Wimbledon, will cross swords. Rybakina got the better of Swiatek in the fourth round.
Later Wednesday, the men’s main draw will see its final two semi-finalists. Americans Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul will battle it out while nine-time Australian champion Novak Djokovic takes on Andrey Rublev.
Djokovic will be looking to qualify for a 44e career Grand Slam semi-final.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov have already secured their ticket to one of the two semi-finals.
