Linette keeps getting better; into Australian Open semis

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two days after advancing to her first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal unseeded Magda Linette has gone one better and is into the Australian Open semis. The 30-year-old Linette beat Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 to add the former No. 1 to the list of top players she has beaten at Melbourne Park during this tournament. Linette had lost seven of nine previous matches against Pliskova. Linette has defeated Anett Kontaveit, Ekaterina Alexandrova and WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia in successive rounds. A player from Poland was favored to reach the latter stages of the tournament, but it was top-seeded Iga Swiatek everyone would have expected and not Linette.