It may not be an all-Williams semifinal at the Australian Open, but two Americans will be squaring off as Serena Williams and Madison Keys won their respective matches on Wednesday.
Keys continued her stunning run with a three-set win over a revived Venus Williams, while Serena Williams cruised past Dominika Cibulkova in 64 minutes.
Keys, who never before appeared past the third round of a Grand Slam, battled through a thigh injury and overcame 45 unforced errors to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over her older countrymate.
The unseeded 19-year-old cruised in the first set but struggled with a thigh injury in the second. Venus took that set with an ace, and the third fittingly went back-and-forth.
Venus, who was seeded 18th and came into the match 9-0 on the year, twice went up a break, and Keys promptly answered with one of her own.
Up 5-4 on Williams' serve, Keys closed things out with four consecutive points at love. On match point, she caught Williams on her heels with a deep forehand that was returned into the net.
At 34-years-old, Venus was trying to become the oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in decades. She had her sights set on a potential eighth major and a Grand Slam matchup with her sister for the first time since the 2009 Wimbledon final.
The top-seeded Serena looks poised for her sixth Aussie title and 19th major overall after running through last year's runner-up, 6-2, 6-2.
The 11th-seeded Cibulkova stood no chance against the focused superstar, who fired 15 aces and 31 winners in the one-sided match.
Serena and Keys have never met before, while the other women's semifinal pits Maria Sharapova against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
[SportsNetwork.com]
