CoCo Vandeweghe stuns Garbine Muguruza to make first Grand Slam semi-final

Vandeweghe will be competing against compatriot and 13th seed Venus Williams for a spot in Saturday’s final, and Williams will be searching for her second Australian Open final in the process. Did it feel like a new experience for her?

‘I think the pressure got to her because she gave me the double fault’.

“I try and behave the best, but it’s a work in progress“, she said.

The decisive game of the match was the seventh game of the first set when Vandeweghe finally managed to break Muguruza’s serve after several chances.

She lost early in her two tune-up events for the Australian Open and struggled to find her rhythm in Melbourne once the tournament began, dropping sets in each of her first two matches. The last time she reached the quarters here without the loss of a set was 2008. Furthermore, Muguruza would win the next three consecutive points with a backhand victor down the line but a good return from Vandeweghe and a forehand return victor down the line handed the American a set point.

The signs have been there for Williams, and after the run to the semis at the All England Club she has now reached this stage in two of her last three Grand Slam events.

“I’m sure (Vandeweghe is) going to want to be in her first final”, Williams said.

As a reward, Vandeweghe gets to play Venus Williams.

Her mother Tauna was an Olympic swimmer and volleyballer, her grandfather Ernie played for the New York Knicks and her uncle Kiki is general manager of the Denver Nuggets. I can only speak for kind of how I played out there. She throws a lot of rackets and berates herself.

“It was not so easy today, she is a tough opponent who serves well and hits the ball strongly”.

“Screw me over once, and you’re not going to screw me over twice”.

“It’s fantastic to be in a semifinal”, she said in her post-match press conference.

In the bottom half of the draw, 14-time major victor Nadal is the only remaining contender who has won a Grand Slam title.

‘I really wasn’t feeling that great out there funnily enough.

“We’ve played a lot, a couple of times”, Muguruza said of Vandeweghe. “I’m not ideal”, she said, adding that playing Williams would be “an honour”. “I think when you play with someone that has the power to disturb like this, to hit these kind of shots, and has a good day, I mean, it’s hard honestly”.

“I started to be more aggressive from the first shot, I think that made the difference”, Wawrinka said, adding that he’ll have dinner in front of a television set watching the Federer-Zverev match.