Magda Linette keeps Cinderella story alive with stunning victory over Karolina Pliskova, advances to maiden Australian Open semifinal

The dream run continued for Magda Linette, as the unseeded Pole outplayed former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova to reach her first career Grand Slam semifinal at the 2023 Australian Open.

Linette remained consistent in her 6-3 7-5 victory on Wednesday, matching her big-hitting opponent's power from the baseline. After an early exchange of breaks, it was Linette who pounced on Pliskova's poor serving to produce a break point, which she converted following a forehand error from her Czech opponent. This was enough to secure the opening set, accomplished after an intense 35 minutes.

The second set saw both ladies hold serve, as each remained firm with their groundstrokes from the baseline. However, Pliskova was the first to lose focus, dropping her serve at 5-5 following some errant play along with two double faults. Linette proceeded to serve out the match, booking her place in the semifinals after an hour and 27 minutes.

The World No.45 will resume her Cinderella story in Thursday's semifinal, when she faces the winner between fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka and Croatian veteran Donna Vekic.