US Open champion Naomi Osaka reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals with a hard-fought win over Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova at the Australian Open.
The Japanese fourth seed won 6-2 4-6 6-4 and will face Petra Kvitova, another Czech, in Saturday’s showpiece.
Osaka, 21, hit 15 aces and 56 winners in a confident display.
The semi-final was played under the Rod Laver Arena roof as temperatures touched 40C in Melbourne. Read more