MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A quick look at the Australian Open:
LOOKAHEAD TO FRIDAY
The second men’s semifinal features a look at the future of the sport: 22-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas against 25-year-old Daniil Medvedev. Tsitsipas is coming off a rousing quarterfinal comeback from a two-set deficit to stun 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. While Tsitsipas is trying to get to his first major final, Medvedev was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open. Medvedev holds a 5-1 head-to-head edge against Tsitsipas. With fans back at Melbourne Park after a five-day COVID-19 lockdown, the crowd is expected to favor Tsitsipas, who is from Greece. Melbourne has a large Greek population and a local restaurant that Tsitsipas has frequented named a souvlaki after him. Also Friday, the No. 2-seeded team of Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka plays the No. 3 pair of Barbora Krejicikova and Katerina Siniakova in the women’s doubles final.
FRIDAY'S FORECAST
Sunny, high of 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit)
THURSDAY'S WEATHER
Sunny, high of 33 Celsius (91 Fahrenheit).
THURSDAY'S RESULTS
Women’s Semifinals: No. 3 Naomi Osaka beat No. 10 Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4; No. 22 Jennifer Brady beat No. 25 Karolina Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Men's Semifinals: No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
STAT OF THE DAY
20 — Consecutive victories for Osaka.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Just made too many mistakes there. Easy mistakes. Not like I was on the run or anything. They were just easy, easy mistakes.” — Williams, after making 24 unforced errors and just 12 winners in her loss to Osaka, which ended the 39-year-old American's latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title.
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