MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The Latest on Thursday from the Australian Open (all times local):
10:45 p.m.
Roger Federer has rallied to reach the final of the Australian Open, beating Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in just over three hours.
The sold-out crowd in Rod Laver Arena roared when Wawrinka double-faulted to give Federer the critical service break at 4-2 in the fifth set.
The 35-year-old Federer calmly served it out two games later to become the oldest player to reach a Grand Slam final since Ken Rosewall made the 1974 U.S. Open final at the age of 39.
“I never, ever in my wildest dream felt I was going to be coming this far in Australia and here I am. It’s beautiful. I’m so happy,” said Federer, who is playing in his first Grand Slam since coming back from six months off due to injury.
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10:05 p.m.
Stan Wawrinka has leveled his semifinal with Roger Federer at two sets apiece after breaking the 17-time major winner in the ninth game to capture the fourth 6-4.
After losing the set, Federer left the court for his own medical timeout. Wawrinka had a medical timeout following the second set.
Coming into the match, Federer had an 18-3 record against his Swiss countryman, but the two have never gone the distance in a five-set match.
Federer has won all of their previous matches on hard courts, with all three of Wawrinka’s victories coming on clay.
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9:30 p.m.
Stan Wawrinka has come back to win the third set against Roger Federer in their Australian Open semifinal. Federer still leads 7-5, 6-3, 1-6.
Wawrinka got his first break of the match with Federer serving at 1-2 in the set, then broke the 17-major winner again at 1-4.
Wawrinka left the court for medical treatment before the third set began, returning with a bandage below his right knee.
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9:10 p.m.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s emotional run at the Australian Open has come to an end with a loss to Serena Williams in the semifinals, but she’s leaving with a souvenir - a selfie of herself in Rod Laver Arena.
“The emotion was really nice. The court was full. It was just a beautiful moment,” she said. “I just want to have (it) in my phone.”
Williams was among those applauding as the 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni left the court after playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal since she made the final four at Wimbledon in 1999 at the age of 17.
The Croatian player also has a few more fans than when she arrived in Melbourne. She’s received messages from many friends and former players congratulating her on her performance, which included wins over top-5 players Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova.
“It’s really incredible how much support I’ve received,” she said. “Just about every person I know and don’t know have accused me of making them cry.”
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9:00 p.m.
Roger Federer has taken a 7-5, 6-3 lead over Stan Wawrinka in their Australian Open semifinal, winning the second set in 31 minutes.
Wawrinka was broken for the second time in the match at 2-3 in the second set. Afterward, he cracked his racket in two over his knee.
After the set, Wawrinka left the court with a medical trainer, a towel draped over his head.
The 35-year-old Federer is now one set away from becoming the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Ken Rosewall made the 1974 U.S. Open final at the age of 39.
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8:30 p.m.
Roger Federer took the first set 7-5 in his Australian Open semifinal against Stan Wawrinka.
The 17-time major winner was unable to convert three early breakpoint chances but cashed in on his first set point in the 12th game on Wawrinka’s serve.
Federer, returning from a six-month layoff to rest his injured left knee, is aiming to reach his first Australian Open final since he won his fourth title here in 2010. He hasn’t won a major since Wimbledon in 2012.
Warwinka had his major breakthrough in Australia, where he won his first Grand Slam title in 2014.
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6:00 p.m.
Serena Williams is one win away from a record 23rd Grand Slam title after setting up an all-Williams final at the Australian Open against her older sister, Venus.
No. 2-ranked Serena Williams, a six-time Australian Open winner, overwhelmed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1 in the second women’s semifinal on Thursday after Venus Williams beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
Serena broke Lucic-Baroni five times to win the match in 50 minutes.
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5:35 p.m.
Serena Williams has taken the first set 6-2 in her Australian Open semifinal against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, and is potentially one set away from a championship match against her older sister, Venus.
Serena Williams, bidding for an Open-era record 23rd major title, beat her sister in the last all-Williams final at Melbourne Park in 2003. She has won six titles here since then, while Venus’ win over CoCo Vandeweghe earlier Thursday secured her return to the Australian final for the first time in 14 years.
With 35-year-old Serena Williams against 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni, it was the oldest Grand Slam semifinal matchup in the Open era in terms of combined aged.
Lucic-Baroni was playing her first semifinal at a major since Wimbledon in 1999.
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4:55 p.m.
Venus Williams has beaten CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 to reach the final of the Australian Open, becoming the oldest finalist at the tournament in the Open era.
Williams tossed her racket after clinching it on her fourth match point and put her hands up to her face in disbelief before crossing her arms over her heart. She then did a stylish pirouette on the court as the crowd gave her a standing ovation.
“Everyone has their moment in the sun,” she said afterward. “Maybe mine has gone on a while. I’d like to keep that going. I’ve got nothing else to do.”
The 36-year-old Williams rallied in the match after dropping a set for the first time in the tournament, breaking Vandeweghe four times over the final two sets.
Williams last reached a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2009, the longest gap between major finals for any player in the Open era.
She also reached the final of the Australian Open for the first time since 2003 - a gap of 14 years.
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4:00 p.m.
Venus Williams has captured the second set against an error-prone CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-2, to level their semifinal match at one set apiece.
Williams broke Vandeweghe to take a 2-1 lead, then broke her again to go up 4-1 when Vandeweghe made two double-faults in a row.
Vandeweghe then had four break points in Williams’ next service game, but was unable to convert any of them. Williams closed out the set with two aces.
Williams made just eight unforced errors in the set compared with 16 for her younger opponent.
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3:20 p.m.
CoCo Vandeweghe has taken the first set in her Australian Open semifinal against Venus Williams, winning 7-6 (3) in a tiebreaker.
Vandeweghe is playing first Grand Slam semifinal, and reached the last four with back-to-back wins over top-ranked Angelique Kerber in the fourth round and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals.
At 25, Vandeweghe was the only player younger than 34 in the women’s semifinals.
Venus Williams is playing her 21st semifinal at a Grand Slam, and second in three majors after reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last year.
She hasn’t reached a Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost to her sister, Serena Willilams.
The 36-year-old American, the oldest semifinalist in the women’s singles semifinals in Australia in the Open era, was 1-1 in semifinals at Melbourne Park.
The winner of the first semifinal will play either No. 2-ranked Serena Williams or Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the final.
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1:30 p.m.
Bob and Mike Bryan earned a shot at a seventh Australian Open doubles title after a rain-interrupted 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 semifinal win Friday over Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The third-seeded American twins celebrated with their traditional chest bump leap after closing out the match, their 10th semifinal appearance at Melbourne Park.
Mike Bryan dropped serve in the first game but the brothers were quickly back on track in what became a tight set decided in a tiebreaker.
The Bryans’ variety of shots came to the fore on the critical points as they reeled off the first six points in the tiebreaker.
After a 25-minute rain delay to start the second set, the match resumed under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena.
At 2-2, Garcia-Lopez found himself under attack on serve and he double-faulted to hand the Bryans the vital service break.
He dropped serve again in the ninth game when Carreno Busta sent a reflex volley over the baseline to give the Bryans the straight sets warmup for another Australian final.
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