Venus Williams continued her astonishing late-career revival by felling Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) on Tuesday to reach her first Australian Open semifinal in 14 years and become the oldest woman to reach the last four at Melbourne Park in the Open era.
The quarterfinal will hardly be remembered as a classic, with both Venus and the 24th-ranked Russian surrendering serve with alarming regularity despite perfect conditions for tennis at Rod Laver Arena.
In the end it was 36-year-old Venus' experience that proved decisive when the pressure rose, and Pavlyuchenkova crumbled with a double fault on match point to boost the American's hopes of a first title at Melbourne Park.