MELBOURNE (AFP) – Former champion Angelique Kerber was in a dominant mood Wednesday to thrash Madison Keys and make the Australian Open semi-finals, as the dream Grand Slam run of giantkiller Chung Hyeon continued.
Germany’s Kerber, champion two years ago, swept aside Keys, 6-1, 6-2, easily taming the American’s big serve to set up a clash with world number one Simona Halep.
Halep reeled off nine games in a row to recover from 0-3 en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over sixth seed Karolina Pliskova.
South Korea’s Chung battled past unheralded American Tennys Sandgren, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, on Rod Laver Arena to become the lowest-ranked semi-finalist since Marat Safin in 2004.
Ranked 58, the bespectacled 21-year-old, nicknamed “The Professor”, proved too hot for fellow quarter-final rookie Sandgren, although he needed six match points before claiming victory.
Next up for Chung, who has already knocked out six-time winner Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Alexander Zverev, is either defending champion Roger Federer or veteran Czech Tomas Berdych, who play an evening match.
Kerber, who won the title in 2016, is in scintillating form and is now on a 14-match win streak in Australia after an unbeaten singles campaign in the Hopman Cup and her triumph in the Sydney warm-up.
Keys was expected to be a stiff challenge, having not dropped a set en route to the quarters, but she melted under the German’s relentless groundstrokes and pinpoint return of serve.
The win ensures Kerber, seeded 21, will move back into the world’s top 10.
It was a disappointing end for Keys, who also capitulated 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens in the final at Flushing Meadows last year.
”I’m not going to walk away from this tournament and think it was terrible because I had one bad match. I think it’s just going to take a little bit of time,” she insisted.
