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Serena seals spot in semis

[caption id="attachment_35175" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Rafael Nadal to face Dimitrov in the Australian Open semifinal. Image Source: Australian Open[/caption] Internet Desk: The Spanish Rafael Nadal is reliving the best moments of his career in Melbourne. This Wednesday, the world number 9 gave another demonstration of this by securing in the Australian Open semifinals with victory over Canadian Milos Raonic, third place in the ATP ranking, by 3 sets to 0, with partial 6/4, 7/6 (9/7) and 6/4 in 2 hours and 44 minutes. Thus, Nadal ended a fast that came from 2014, when he was the champion of Roland Garros, the last time he advanced to the semifinals of one of the Grand Slam tournaments. This victory was the 50th of Nadal at Melbourne Park, where Spanish was champion in 2009 and vice in the 2012 editions and 2014. Nadal was necessary in the first set when he opened 4/2 with the only break of the partial service, won by 6/4. In the second set, with no draw losses, the Spaniard saved six set points from Raonic, including two in the tie-break, which lasted 13 minutes, to open 2-0. Already in the third set, Nadal managed to break decisive service In the tenth game, won without even a point, closing the partial in 6/4 and the game in 3 to 0. This was his seventh victory in nine duels with Raonic. Thus, Nadal begins the 2017 season very well, after suffering several injuries in the last year, when he fell soon in the debut in the Australian Open. Raonic was one step closer to repeating last year's campaign when he stopped in the semifinals in Melbourne after losing an epic match to Andy Murray in the semifinals in five sets. Now, however, he did not resist Nadal, whom he had overcome at the start of the season in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane Tournament. The Spaniard's opponent in the semifinals will be Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, against whom Nadal is ahead in a 7-1 lead in the showdown, although he lost his last duel last year in Beijing. The world number 15 advanced on Wednesday at the Australian Open with a three-set win over Belgium's David Goffin, ranked No. 11 with 6/3, 6/2 and 6/4 in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Serena Williams has continued her run for a record seventh Australian Open singles crown with an easy straight-sets quarter-final win over Johanna Konta. Williams dominated in the match against British ninth seed, as she outran her opponent by 6-2, 6-3 in mere 75 minutes at Melbourne Park on Wednesday. Williams' progress to the semifinals means players aged 36 (her sister, Venus Williams), 35 and 34 (her opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni) will play off for two places in the final. Serena Williams said "30s is the new 10!" "No matter what happens, somebody 34 or older will be in the final," the 22-time major winner said. "That's great." Serena Williams and Lucic-Baroni will play the second of the semifinals on Thursday, following Venus Williams against her fellow American Coco Vandeweghe, who is 25 years of age. Earlier an emotional Lucic-Baroni continued her great run into the semifinals with a topsy-turvy 6-4 3-6 6-4 upset victory over No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova. It came 18 years after Lucic-Baroni's only previous grand slam semifinal appearance. The Croatian then spent many years away from the sport and later claimed she had been abused from early childhood by her father. "I can't believe it - this is crazy," said Lucic-Baroni. "God is good - that's really all I can say." The world No.79 said one day she would open up fully about all the hardships she has endured before this unexpected late-career renaissance. "I know this means a lot to any player to reach the semis, but for me it is overwhelming," she said. The 34-year-old took a medical timeout when trailing 3-4 in the final set against Pliskova on Wednesday, before returning to streak through the final three games in a match lasting one hour and 48 minutes. Both players had plenty of trouble serving throughout, with the Czech dropping serve three times in the decider.