If nothing else, Naomi Osaka proved she's here to stay on Tuesday. The 2018 US Open champion advanced to the Australian Open semifinals with a quarterfinal win over the No. 6-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1. Osaka, 21, is building quite a resume in her young career. She had never made it past the fourth round before last year's US Open, but she's trying to establish herself as a mainstay.
Her opponent in the semifinals will be Karolina Pliskova, who battled back against a potentially injured Serena Williams to save four match points. Pliskova was down 5-1 in the final set, but she won six straight games to advance for the opportunity to play Osaka. Pliskova is looking for her first Grand Slam final appearance since the 2016 US Open, when she lost to Angelique Kerber. Her 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win puts Pliskova at 2-2 for her career against Williams.
Novak Djokovic looked as dominant as ever against Kei Nishikori, though it's hard to get a good read on the match with Nishikori clearly playing hampered. Nishikori -- who played three five-set matches heading into the quarterfinals against Djokovic -- simply looked fatigued. He retired down 6-1, 4-1. Djokovic is looking for his third straight major in what's proving to be an outrageous comeback, and right now he looks nigh on unbeatable.
Lucas Pouille will be playing Djokovic in the semifinals after beating Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Pouille had his serve broken by Raonic just once. The loss ends an impressive run for the 28-year-old Canadian. Pouille joins Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic in the semifinals.
