Serena Williams moved one step closer to her 19th Grand Slam title by beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 in 65 minutes on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
The number one-ranked Williams displayed her immense power, reeling off heavy returns that included 58 winners compared to 38 from Cibulkova, last year's runner-up.
Madison Keys overcame a left thigh injury to beat Venus Williams 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at the Australian Open on Wednesday, ensuring there would be no Williams sisters semi-final.
Keys received treatment on her leg after dropping serve in the second set to give Williams a 4-1 lead.
After the medical timeout, the 19-year-old came back to break Williams' serve twice to level the set at four-all, but Williams then broke her next service game and served out the set.
And in men's action,
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a straight-sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori.
Wawrinka will go on to face world no. 1 Novak Djokovic, who remains on course for a fifth Australian Open title after beating Milos Raonic in straight sets.
Djokovic pressed home his advantage, sealing a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 victory and maintaining his record of having not dropped a set at this year's tournament.
The world no. 1 says he is hoping to carry the momentum of his victories into his next match against Wawrinka.
"I take a lot of confidence and try to carry that in every next match, next challenge. Obviously, I'm going to play Stan, who is a defending champion here; we played five-set matches in 2013 and 14 at the Australian Open and I'm going to be ready for a fight, but knowing that I have raised the level of performance tonight and have played the best match of the tournament so far is affecting my confidence in a positive way and hopefully I can carry that into the next one," he said.
