MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO FRIDAY
The men's semifinals bring up a lot of questions which should be answered by the time both high-profile matches end. Will Rafael Nadal extend his quest for a record 21st Grand Slam singles major in the absence of the two men he is tied with on 20 — Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer? Or will Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini upset Nadal and continue his search for a first major title in Sunday's final? Will second-seeded Daniil Medvedev overcome his tiredness from a late-night, 4 hour, 42-minute, five-set win over Felix Auger-Aliassime and continue his pursuit of a second consecutive Grand Slam title? Or will French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas finally get past the semifinals in his third attempt at Melbourne Park and advance to his second major final? Medvedev beat Tsitsipas in the semifinals here last year. Nadal and Berrettini play first in an afternoon match at Rod Laver Arena.
FRIDAY FORECAST
Cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. High of 31 Celsius (89 Fahrenheit)
THURSDAY'S WEATHER
Mostly sunny with late rain, high of 33 Celsius (91 Fahrenheit)
THURSDAY'S RESULTS
Women’s Singles Semifinals: No. 1 Ash Barty beat Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3; No. 27 Danielle Collins beat No. 7 Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-1.
Women's Doubles Semifinals: No. 1 Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova beat No. 3 Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-3; Beatriz Haddad Maia and Anna Danilina beat No. 2 Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles Semifinals: Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell beat No. 2 Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-3, 7-6 (9); Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis beat No. 3 Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Mixed Doubles Semifinals: Jason Kubler and Jaimee Fourli beat Gonzalo Escobar and Lucie Hradecka 2-6, 7-6 (2), 10-6; No. 5 Ivan Dodig and Kristina Mladenovic beat Zhang Shuai and John Peers 1-6, 7-5, 10-2.
STAT OF THE DAY:
42 — Number of years since an Australian woman last contested an Australian Open singles final. Ash Barty is the first since Wendy Turnbull in 1980. Barty is aiming to be the first Australian singles champion here since 1978.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“To play against the No. 1 player in the world in her own country - I think that’s going to be really spectacular." — Danielle Collins after advancing to the women's singles final against top-ranked Ash Barty.
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