MELBOURNE: Dayana Yastremska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian qualifier, kept her dream run at the Australian Open alive when she stormed into the semifinals with a convincing win over 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova. On a blazing hot day, Yastremska powered to a 6-3, 6-4 win to reach the penultimate round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Yastremska, the world No. 93, is the fifth qualifier in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, and the second to do it at the Australian Open after Christine Dorey in 1978. Interestingly, three of them have done it this decade - Briton Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open title two years ago, and Argentina's Nadia Podoroska, who reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2020.
