Vintage Venus shines

Williams advances to her first Melbourne semifinal in 14 years

Venus Williams continued her astonishing late-career revival by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday to advance to her first Australian Open semifinal in 14 years and become the oldest woman to reach the last four at Melbourne Park in the professional era.

The quarterfinal will hardly be remembered as a classic, with both Venus and the 24th-ranked Russian surrendering serve with alarming regularity despite perfect conditions at Rod Laver Arena.