Australian Open 2017: Venus Williams Reaches Semifinals For First Time In 14 Years

Venus Williams was 22 the last time she made it to the Australian Open semifinals.

Australian Open 2017: Venus Williams Reaches Semifinals For First Time In 14 Years

Now, 14 years later, the American has accomplished that feat again, defeating Russian 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the first of Tuesday’s quarterfinals in Melbourne.

At 36, Williams, the 13th seed, is the oldest woman to reach the final four at Melbourne in the Open era.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited,” Venus said in her on-court interview, her voice rising. “I want to go further. I’m so happy to be in a position to go further.”

She has never won the title, her best performance a runner-up finish to younger sister Serena Williams in 2003.

She will next face unseeded American Coco Vandeweghe, who routed Spain’s seventh seed Garbine Muguruza, 6-4, 6-0.

Vandeweghe, 25, followed up her win over world number one and defending champion Angelique Kerber with her victory over Muguruza, the 2016 French Open winner.

“I really wasn’t feeling all that great out there, I was feeling kind of nervous,” said Vandeweghe. “I just tried to play my best, stay within myself, keep my patterns. I fought through a few break points on her serve, kept on the pressure in the first set and then she finally cracked. Once I got rolling in the second it was like a freight train. You couldn’t stop it.”

Venus maintained the pressure on Pavlyuchenkova, a two-time junior Australian Open champion. The Russia made several unforced errors, including nine double faults, two of them in the key second-set tiebreaker.

Williams, who won her 50th match at the Australian Open, has yet to drop a set.

“What a wonderful result,” said Venus in her postmatch interview. “It’s a great win for the U.S. To have that thought that there’s going to be at least one U.S. player in the final is great for American tennis. “I’m sure she’s going to want to be in her first final. I’m going to want to be in only my second final here. So it’s going to be a well-contested match.”

With Serena Williams in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, opposite Britain’s Johanna Konta, there could be three Americans among the four semifinalists.

The last time that happened at a major was 2002, when Serena, Venus and Lindsay Davenport reached the final four at the US Open.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 24: Venus Williams of the United States plays a forehand in her quarterfinal match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia on day nine of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 24, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)