MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams provided further proof on Tuesday that this is a throwback Australian Open by reaching her first semifinal here since 2003.
Williams, 36, defeated the 24th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in a big-hitting quarterfinal in the sunshine on Rod Laver Arena.
It was the latest confirmation of Williams’s late-career renaissance. Last year at Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals before losing to Angelique Kerber.
But that was at Wimbledon, her favorite tournament, where she has won five titles on her favorite surface: grass. The Australian Open, played on hardcourts, has never brought her that sort of satisfaction.