MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 26: The Latest on Thursday from the Australian Open (all times local):
6:00 p.m.
Serena Williams is one win away from a record 23rd Grand Slam title after setting up an all-Williams final at the Australian Open against her older sister, Venus.
No. 2-ranked Serena Williams, a six-time Australian Open winner, overwhelmed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1 in the second women's semifinal on Thursday after Venus Williams beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
Serena broke Lucic-Baroni five times to win the match in 50 minutes.
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5:35 p.m.
Serena Williams has taken the first set 6-2 in her Australian Open semifinal against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, and is potentially one set away from a championship match against her older sister, Venus.
Serena Williams, bidding for an Open-era record 23rd major title, beat her sister in the last all-Williams final at Melbourne Park in 2003. She has won six titles here since then, while Venus' win over CoCo Vandeweghe earlier Thursday secured her return to the Australian final for the first time in 14 years.
With 35-year-old Serena Williams against 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni, it was the oldest Grand Slam semifinal matchup in the Open era in terms of combined aged.
Lucic-Baroni was playing her first semifinal at a major since Wimbledon in 1999.
Nepal beats Brunei 3-0 to reach semis as group winner
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4:55 p.m.
Venus Williams has beaten CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 to reach the final of the Australian Open, becoming the oldest finalist at the tournament in the Open era.
Williams tossed her racket after clinching it on her fourth match point and put her hands up to her face in disbelief before crossing her arms over her heart. She then did a stylish pirouette on the court as the crowd gave her a standing ovation.
"Everyone has their moment in the sun," she said afterward. "Maybe mine has gone on a while. I'd like to keep that going. I've got nothing else to do."
The 36-year-old Williams rallied in the match after dropping a set for the first time in the tournament, breaking Vandeweghe four times over the final two sets.
Williams last reached a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2009, the longest gap between major finals for any player in the Open era.
She also reached the final of the Australian Open for the first time since 2003 — a gap of 14 years.
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4:00 p.m.
Venus Williams has captured the second set against an error-prone CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-2, to level their semifinal match at one set apiece.
Williams broke Vandeweghe to take a 2-1 lead, then broke her again to go up 4-1 when Vandeweghe made two double-faults in a row.
Vandeweghe then had four break points in Williams' next service game, but was unable to convert any of them. Williams closed out the set with two aces.
Williams made just eight unforced errors in the set compared with 16 for her younger opponent.
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3:20 p.m.
CoCo Vandeweghe has taken the first set in her Australian Open semifinal against Venus Williams, winning 7-6 (3) in a tiebreaker.
Vandeweghe is playing first Grand Slam semifinal, and reached the last four with back-to-back wins over top-ranked Angelique Kerber in the fourth round and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals.
At 25, Vandeweghe was the only player younger than 34 in the women's semifinals.
Venus Williams is playing her 21st semifinal at a Grand Slam, and second in three majors after reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last year.
She hasn't reached a Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost to her sister, Serena Willilams.
The 36-year-old American, the oldest semifinalist in the women's singles semifinals in Australia in the Open era, was 1-1 in semifinals at Melbourne Park.
The winner of the first semifinal will play either No. 2-ranked Serena Williams or Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the final.
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1:30 p.m.
Bob and Mike Bryan earned a shot at a seventh Australian Open doubles title after a rain-interrupted 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 semifinal win Friday over Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The third-seeded American twins celebrated with their traditional chest bump leap after closing out the match, their 10th semifinal appearance at Melbourne Park.
Mike Bryan dropped serve in the first game but the brothers were quickly back on track in what became a tight set decided in a tiebreaker.
The Bryans' variety of shots came to the fore on the critical points as they reeled off the first six points in the tiebreaker.
After a 25-minute rain delay to start the second set, the match resumed under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena.
At 2-2, Garcia-Lopez found himself under attack on serve and he double-faulted to hand the Bryans the vital service break.
He dropped serve again in the ninth game when Carreno Busta sent a reflex volley over the baseline to give the Bryans the straight sets warmup for another Australian final.
