Australian Open: Garbine Muguruza beats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach first semi-final
- Spaniard will meet fellow former world number one Simona Halep
- Debut semi-finalists Australia’s Ash Barty and US hope Sofia Kenin meet on Thursday
The 26-year-old, who is unseeded at Melbourne Park, took the first set 7-5 and then broke Pavlyuchenkova’s serve to go 4-2 up in the second at Rod Laver Arena.
Muguruza, the winner of the 2016 French Open and Wimbledon a year later, went on to close out the set 6-3 and reach her first Australian Open semi-final.
The 26-year-old faces Simona Halep in Friday’s semi-final after the Romanian dispatched Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in just 53 minutes. The former world number one, who won 6-1, 6-1, is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
Muguruza was unaware that she was taking on Halep. “I don’t know,” she said when asked if she knew who she would face in the semis. “I want to know.”
When asked how she and her newly returned coach Conchita Martinez would prepare for the challenge, Muguruza said: “It’s going to be between me and my coach for sure.”