US Open champion Naomi Osaka reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals with a hard-fought win over Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova at the Australian Open.
The Japanese fourth seed won 6-2 4-6 6-4 and will face Petra Kvitova, another Czech, in Saturday’s showpiece.
21 year old Osaka, hit 15 aces and 56 winners in a confident display.
Meanwhile, second seed Rafael Nadal ended Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas’ captivating run to reach his fifth Australian Open final.
32 year old Nadal, was in devastating form as he beat the 20-year-old 14th seed 6-2 6-4 6-0 in one hour and 46 minutes.
The Spaniard cracked 28 winners, breaking Tsitsipas’ serve six times and only facing one break point himself.
He will play either top seed Novak Djokovic or France’s Lucas Pouille – who meet on Friday – in Sunday’s final.