Serena Williams remained on course for her 23rd grand slam title by quelling the challenge of in-form Briton Johanna Konta 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the eighth time.
The 35-year-old American served up 10 aces and thumped 25 winners over 75 minutes on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday to join sister Venus in the last four, where she will play Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
Ninth seed Konta, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year and won the Sydney warm-up tournament, managed a single break in the second set but was unable to cope with the power of the world No 2.
Williams succeeded in finding the target on less than half of her first serves but cleaned up the points on 88% of the occasions when she did.
Furious with herself at times because of her inaccuracy, Williams channelled the anger to overcome 25-year-old Konta and reach her 34th grand slam semi-final without having given up a set in five matches.
"I missed a lot today, I got a little frustrated, then I told myself 'Serena, stop complaining don't be a Baby-rena out on court there'," she said. "I admit I complain a lot... but I said to myself, 'just have fun and try to enjoy the moment' and I did."
Williams is seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title, which would assure her of a return to world No 1 in place of ousted champion Angelique Kerber.
Williams saved a break point to hold on her second service game and pounced to go 3-1 up when the Briton dumped a backhand into the net after a long rally.
Another Konta error, a forehand long, gave Williams the set and the American was immediately applying pressure on her opponent's serve at the start of the second.
Konta rallied from 0-40 to hold, however, and then broke Williams to go 2-1 up when the six-times champion overcooked a crosscourt forehand.
The pressure on Konta's serve was unrelenting by this stage, though, and Williams raced around the court like a teenager to break back before a sizzling backhand winner gave her the chance to serve for the match.
Williams said she was delighted to be facing Lucic-Baroni some 18 years after their only two previous meetings in 1998.
Lucic-Baroni continued her fairytale run with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over fifth seed Karolina Pliskova.
The 34-year-old's only other grand slam semi-final was against Steffi Graf at Wimbledon in 1999.
"I can't believe this, this is crazy. I can't believe I'm in semi-finals again. I feel a little bit in shock right now."
The match saw several swings of momentum with neither player really able to seize control, while Lucic-Baroni had trouble holding her serve when playing into the sun.
Pliskova took an early lead in the first set only to be pegged back by the aggressive tactics of her 34-year-old opponent, who had heavy strapping around both her left thigh and calf.
Lucic-Baroni, after sealing the first set in 32 minutes, won the opening games of the second before Pliskova broke back and then took a medical time out to fix strapping on her right foot.
The break saw the momentum shift towards the fifth-seeded Czech and she ran away with the second set.
Pliskova promptly lost serve in the opening game of the decider, but Lucic-Baroni handed the break right back after a controversial call at 15-15 when a serve was incorrectly called out resulted in a replay of the point.
Lucic-Baroni served two double faults to allow Pliskova to get back on serve.
The Croatian's problems with the ball toss at the northern end of Rod Laver Arena resurfaced and Pliskova was able to take a 4-3 lead.
Lucic-Boroni took a medical time out and from that point on had the upper hand. She won 12 of the next 13 points to storm through the last three games and into the semi-finals.
"I know this means a lot to every player to reach the semi finals. But to me this is overwhelming I will never, never forget this day and this last couple of weeks. The fact I was this strong and could fight this hard is incredible."
