Serena Williams had an emphatic victory over World No.2 Simona Halep and proceeded to the semifinals of the Australian Open 2021. She will now play World No.3 Naomi Osaka in a high-profile clash.

In her post-match interview, Serena spoke about Naomi Osaka. She talked highly of the Japanese prodigy and the inspiring character she is.

“She’s such a strong player on the court, and she’s such an inspirational person I think off the court, which I think is really cool.

“And it’s so good to see just someone that is so inspiring on both things, whether when they’re doing their job or they’re not doing the job and so that’s really, really cool for me,” said Serena.

Serena Williams on her Australian Open 2021

On her preparations, Serena indicated that she has been watching Osaka. Serena is looking at her young rival and already might have a game plan ready for the Japanese.

“And yeah, I’ve been watching her and I’m sure she has been watching me so you know I feel like this is such a good opportunity for me just to keep you know doing my best in the first Grand Slam of the year for me and had an incredibly long, arduous offseason and so I’m really happy.”

Serena had a clean victory over Simona Halep. The scorecard read 6-3, 6-3. The American had a lot of winners and showed great defense to Halep’s baseline strokes.

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Whereas Osaka defeated her unseeded Asian counterpart, Hsieh Su-wei. It was a straight-set victory and the scorecard read 6-2, 6-2. It was a typical Osaka victory with a high number of winners and disciplined gameplay.

Further Australian Open 2021 clash with Osaka will be their first Grand Slam meeting since meeting in the US Open final in 2018. Osaka had won her first Grand Slam at that time, defeating Serena in straight sets in the controversial final. So the 2021 Aussie Open’s best match might be the semifinal clash between Serena and Osaka.

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