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World No. 93 Dayana Yastremska has been through to the Australian Open semifinal as the Ukrainian is close to pulling an Emma Raducanu and becoming the second qualifier in tennis history to win a Grand Slam.
Yastremska, a former world No. 21, saw off Linda Noskova 6-3 6-4 to reach the semifinal at Melbourne Park. For 23-year-old Yastremska - who won three qualifying matches to just earn a main draw spot in Melbourne - it has been her eighth win at the Australian Open over the last two weeks.
Now, Yastremska is two wins away from becoming just the second-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. The first and lone case of a qualifier winning a Slam happened in 2021, when Raducanu won the US Open.
Yastremska two wins away from emulating Raducanu's feat
After falling down by a break in the third game, Yastremska bounced back by breaking Noskova in the fourth and eighth games to overturn the deficit and seal the opening set.
In the second set, no break points were seen until the seventh game - when Yastremska broke Noskova for a 4-3 lead. Up by a set and a break, Yastremska routinely held on to her serve for the remainder of the set to complete a two-set win.
In the Australian Open semifinal, Yastremska will be taking on world No. 15 Zheng Qinwen, who came back from a set down to beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-1.
In the first set, Kalinskaya twice recovered from a break down to force a tie-break. After twice recovering from a break down, Kalinskaya was also 4-3 down in the first-set tie-break before winning the next four points and taking the opener.
Zheng was able to bounce back in the second set, breaking Kalinskaya in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead before realizing her first set point in the following game to send the match into a decider. At the start of the third set, Kalinskaya served out the opening game before Zheng impressively won the next six games to complete a comeback win over the Russian.
When Yastremska and Zheng meet at the Australian Open, it will be their first meeting.