The seven-time champion, in her 20th Australian Open and
77th Grand Slam, raised her intensity and accuracy to beat the Romanian second
seed 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.
“Definitely think this is the best match I have played this
tournament, for sure,” said 10th seed Williams, who is another step closer to a
record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
“Obviously I had to be going up against the number two in
the world, so I knew I had to do better, and that’s what I did and I’m
excited.”
The 39-year-old, 23-time major winner has lost four Slam
finals while chasing Margaret Court’s all-time mark since her last major
victory at Melbourne Park in 2017 while pregnant.
Japan’s Osaka stands between Williams and a place in another
decider after the third seed crushed Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei 6-2, 6-2.
“I feel good. I feel like, you know, I’m here and I’m happy
to be here,” said the veteran, after reaching her 40th Grand Slam semi-final.
“I got to keep going. That’s obviously the goal.
“Obviously I have an incredible opponent to play, so it would be nice to hopefully keep raising the level of my game. I’m going to have to.”
Williams (left) receives congratulations at the net from Halep |
But Williams came out all guns blazing to hold serve then
forced a break point with a searing cross-court backhand, taking a 2-0 lead
when Halep sent a forehand long.
The Romanian, Williams’ highest-ranked opponent since
defeating then number two Osaka at Toronto in 2019, settled down and immediately
broke back.
Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou said this week she was
moving better than at any time since giving birth and she worked more break
points in game six, converting on the second.
She was striking the ball hard, cleanly, and accurately,
giving Halep few opportunities to counter-attack, and took the set in 36
minutes with a fittingly dominant love game.
But while easily outpacing Halep in hitting winners, her
unforced-error count was soaring and some poor shots gifted the Romanian an
early break for 2-0 in the second set, with Williams turning to her box and
asking: “What’s happening?”
She regrouped to immediately strike back then failed to hold
serve again as Halep became more aggressive, only for the second seed to throw
away the advantage by allowing Williams to break once more.
The driven American finally held serve to level the set at
3-3 and in a mammoth, and decisive, six-minute game featuring a 20-shot rally
edged ahead 4-3 on her sixth break point.
There was no way back for a dejected Halep as Williams held
serve then took the honours on her second match point.
The Romanian noticed the difference in Williams, saying:
"She's moving better and she hits strong the balls. I feel like she's in a
good shape now.
"My feeling after this match is that I was not that
far, but also she was stronger in the important moments. I had 3-1 in the
second set and the serve didn't help me much. She was very powerful at the
return.
"I'm not that disappointed about myself. Attitude maybe
a little bit negative the whole tournament, but I'm going to work on this, and
I will come back stronger."
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