Women's semifinal schedule of play at the Australian Open

Four semifinalists include some names that were expected also before the tournament but also some surprises. Simona Halep and Ashleigh Barty can be counted as the biggest favorites for the title. The first seeded Aussie will take on youngster Sofia Kenin and Simona Halep will meet in-form playing Garbine Muguruza.

There is not a big age difference between world no. 1 Ashleigh Barty and Sofia Kenin. However, the Aussie managed to win a Grand Slam title already whereas the American is still seeking her first glory.

The home crowd-favorite Barty introduced herself to spectators in Melbourne already in 2013 when she was only 16 years old. She played the finals in doubles with Casey Dellacqua losing 2-6, 6-3, 2-6 to Errani & Vinci. However, playing doubles was a great start to her career. In 2019 she managed to win Roland Garros and become world number 1. Barty is first-seeded also at the Australian Open as home fans want a Grand Slam title in Australia after many years.

In order to reach the final, Barty will need to defeat her younger opponent, Sofia Kenin. The American turned pro only in 2017 when her semifinal opponent had already a few Grand Slam matches played. Although, despite the young age 2019 was a breakthrough year for Kenin when she broke into TOP 20 and managed to win her first 3 WTA titles. It is a first Grand Slam semifinal for Kenin as she lost a set only to Gauff en route to the final four.

Garbine Mugurza was the first of the two players to win a Grand Slam title. She managed to win 2016 Roland Garros and added a trophy in Wimbledon a year after. Halep's done the same thing but 2 years later. She first triumphed at the 2018 Roland Garros to win the trophy in Wimbledon next year.

Both players reached no. 1 ranking in the 2017 season for the first time, however, the following years were not so successful for the Spanish player. She dropped out of TOP 10 in 2018 and in 2019 she was not a part of TOP 30. This year, she started in Shenzhen where she lost to Alexandrova in semifinals. Then she withdrew from her quarterfinal match in Hobart and she followed up on a great form in Melbourne.

On her way to the semifinals, Muguruza defeated Rogers, Tomljanovic, Svitolina, Bertens and Pavlyuchenkova. She lost the set to the first two mentioned players. On the other hand, her semifinal opponent, Simona Halep was flawless at the Australian Open so far. She did not lose a set to Brady, Dart, Putintseva, Mertens or Kontaveit. The players will meet in the third match in Rod Laver Arena as they will follow Barty and Kenin.