Serena Williams downs Halep to make Australian Open semi-finals

Serena Williams at the Australian Open. Credit: AFP Photo

An unstoppable Serena Williams reached a 40th Grand Slam semi-final Tuesday, overpowering second seed Simona Halep to book an Australian Open last-four showdown with Naomi Osaka.

The clinical seven-time champion, in her 20th Australian Open and 77th Grand Slam, was simply too intense in beating the Romanian 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.