The women’s semifinals at US Open 2020 are set to hit an incredibly high note on Thursday night.
And that’s because they feature the three most in-form players in tennis – Victoria Azarenka, Naomi Osaka and Jennifer Brady – plus the sport's biggest female star.
That would be Serena Williams, the irrepressible 38-year-old who stands two wins from a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title.
Williams’ three-set win over Tsvetana Pironkova moved her into an incredible 10th consecutive US Open semifinal, where she will face a resurgent Azarenka, last fortnight’s Western & Southern Open champion who demolished Elise Mertens 6-1 6-0 in the quarters.
US Open Day 10: Serena, Azarenka, Medvedev, Thiem make semis
Williams and Azarenka, both mothers, have clashed 22 times, with Serena winning 18 of those matches. She’s a perfect 10-0 over Azarenka in Grand Slam meetings, the first coming in 2008.
Yet for a rivalry so apparently lopsided, it certainly doesn’t feel that way when these two champions do battle.
Their past four Grand Slam matches have all extended to three sets – including a fabulous pair of US Open finals in 2012 and 2013 – and their last match, at Indian Wells 2019, was the most intense of two-set battles, spanning more than two hours before Williams triumphed.
“I love playing against Serena,” said Azarenka, currently on a 10-match winning streak.
“We always played on big stages. It was a lot of big fights. She's one of the players who push me to the limit, who makes me better. I'm excited for that.
“No matter what the score is, the match is never going to be over.”
Added Williams: “I just gotta be a little bit better, really, and … just be ready for lights out.”
Osaka v Brady first up
The winner could in the final face Naomi Osaka, the No.4 seed who reached the Western & Southern Open final before a hamstring injury prevented her from taking to the court against Azarenka.
Having overcome that, Osaka extended her winning streak to nine with a commanding 6-3 6-4 quarterfinal win over Shelby Rogers, during which she smacked 24 winners to just eight errors.
Historically, once Osaka gets past the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament, she goes on to win the whole thing.
Yet standing in her way is the vastly-improved Jennifer Brady, the American who recently broke through for her first WTA title in Lexington and who has won 10 of her past 11 matches.
Brady, yet to drop a set at this year’s US Open, moved through to her first Grand Slam semifinal after dismantling Yulia Putintseva.
“I don't feel like the favourite weirdly enough,” Osaka foreshadowed.
“I just feel like I'm going into a match with a really talented player, which is all of my previous matches anyway.
“I watched her match against Putintseva earlier (on Tuesday). I know she's a big threat.”