MELBOURNE: Jennifer Brady beat Czech tennis player Karolina Muchova on Rod Laver Arena in three gruelling sets to earn a finals berth against Japan's Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open on Thursday.
The American won the 115-minute long match against Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Brady was a semifinalist at the 2020 US Open but has gone one better at the Australian Open.
Muchova showed her gutsy win over Ash Barty was no fluke, coming back from a scratchy opening set to level the match and push the contest to the brink.
However, Brady was the slightly steadier player at big moments and she sealed victory after a torturous final service game on her fifth match point. She will now face Osaka in the finals on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Osaka secured a spot in the women's singles final of the tournament after an impressive win over Serena Williams.
In the semi-final match, Osaka registered a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Williams to advance to the fourth Grand Slam final of her career and put herself one win away from her second Australian Open crown.
Seven-time Australian Open champion Williams had been 8-0 in Australian Open semifinals over her legendary career, but took her first loss in this round Down Under against Osaka.
Williams, playing her milestone 20th Australian Open, was unable to reach her 34th Grand Slam final and ninth Australian Open final after the defeat.
During the match, Osaka looked scratchy early on and was behind 0-2 in the opening set, but from there she was rarely troubled, rattling off a string of games to clinch the first set. She then went on to win the second set to progress in the tournament.