![](\"https:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/170124233200-serena-wins-hp-video.jpg\")
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Melbourne (CNN)<\/cite>Judging by the way she plays, Serena Williams will be hard to stop as the Australian Open draws to a close. <\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Melbourne (CNN)Judging by the way she plays, Serena Williams will be hard to stop as the Australian Open draws to a close. Williams saw off ninth-seeded Johanna Konta 6-2, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday to advance to a 10th straight Grand Slam semifinal and move closer to a record 23rd Major. “Things went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliams saw off ninth-seeded Johanna Konta 6-2, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday to advance to a 10th straight Grand Slam semifinal and move closer to a record 23rd Major. <\/p>\n“Things went pretty well for me today,” Williams told reporters. <\/p>\nWilliams will also recapture Germany’s No. 1 Angelique Kerber if she wins the tournament – and may have to defeat older sister Venus to do so. <\/p>\nRead: No. 1 Murray, lose Kerber<\/p>\nRead: Istomin shocks Djokovic<\/p>\nAn All-Williams final is still a possibility as Venus meets fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe on Thursday. <\/p>\nWith the Williams sisters and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the last four in Melbourne, that means three of the four players in the women’s draw are at least 34 years old. Vandeweghe, 25, is the exception. <\/p>\nLucic-Baroni previously defeated one of the tournament favorites, fifth-placed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to start a duel with world No. 2 and her second Grand Slam semi-final notable 18 years later to do The first. <\/p>\n“No matter what happens, someone over 34 will be in the final,” Williams said.<\/p>\nThree years after his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, Grigor Dimitrov, number 15, returned to the round of four as the Bulgarian defeated David Goffin 6-3 6-2 6-4. <\/p>\nDimitrov, who will face either 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal or Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic on Friday, won his 10th straight match. Roger Federer challenges Stan Wawrinka in an all-Swiss scramble on Thursday. <\/p>\nWilliams will be the clear favorite against the 79th-placed Croatian, who fled to the United States after saying she was abused by her father. <\/p>\nFacing a difficult draw, the six-time Australian Open champion didn’t drop a set as she edged out Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova – two players eliminated from the top 10 solely on health grounds – smart Czech Barbora Strycova and Konta. <\/p>\nBritain’s Konta – a semi-finalist here 12 months ago – joined the event after winning a warm-up event in Sydney. <\/p>\n\n\u201cServe wasn’t great\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
However, Williams wasn’t particularly happy with her first serve, her most devastating shot. <\/p>\nShe hit 10 aces and won 88% of her first serve points, but only served on 45%. <\/p>\n“My first serve wasn’t really great,” she said. “But I really worked on my second serve.”<\/p>\nAfter a break in set number two at 3-2, the set turned as Williams regained the break by chasing a forehand down the line and a smash before dashing forward to send a forehand winner down the line. <\/p>\n\nDespite the loss, Konta said that facing Williams was probably one of the best experiences of her life. <\/p>\n“Thanks to her, she played an almost perfect first set,” Konta told reporters. “I felt like she did incredibly well. <\/p>\nVisit cnn.com\/tennis for more news and videos<\/p>\n“She just showed and showed why she is who she is.”<\/p>\n\n\n