download (1)No. 2 seed Serena Williams is into her 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal after her win at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Serena’s win, along with wins from her sister Venus and unseeded Coco Vandeweghe, make it three American women advancing to the semifinals. This is the first time since 2002 that three American women have reached the semifinals at the same Grand Slam event.

“It will be great to see an American in the final,” Serena said. “Obviously I would love to be that American in the final. Regardless, there’s going to be an American whose name is not Serena Williams, which I think will be pretty awesome.”

In a nod to experience, three of the four women’s semifinalists are part of the over-30 crowd: 36-year-old Venus Williams, 35-year-old Serena Williams, and 34-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

This is the second time in recent history that three women over 30 are into a Grand Slam semifinal. At the 2015 U.S. Open, champion Flavia Penetta, finalist Roberta Vinci, and semifinalist Serena Williams were all into their thirties. Vandeweghe, an upstart at age 25, keeps the semis from being an entirely over-30 affair.

Serena will play Lucic-Baroni, while Venus will take on Vandeweghe in the other semifinal on Thursday.

 

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