The big story: Lucic-Baroni upset Karolina Pliskova in a tense three-set contest

World No. 79 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 34, beat fifth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to enter the semi-final of the Australian Open on Wednesday. This will be her first Grand Slam semi-final in 18 years.

Prior to this year’s edition, Lucic-Baroni had won a game at the Australian Open way back in 1998, when she made it to the second round of the women’s singles event. She had won the women’s doubles title with Martina Hingis at the age of just 15. The Croat had also reached the Wimbledon semi-final in 1999, but soon quit the game following turmoil in her personal life.

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On Wednesday, she kept her resurgence going at the Australian Open, reaching the last-four stage after thrilling three-set encounter. The 34-year-old took the first set with a serivice break in the last game. She broke Pliskova again in the second set to lead 2-0. But, the Czech rallied to the second after an intense battle.

She took a 3-1 lead in the third, but Pliskova soon broke back to bring the on serve at 4-3. The Croat though kept her calm to eventually close out the game and complete her historic entry into the Australian Open semi-final.

Other top stories

Tennis

  • Second seed Serena Williams advanced to the semi-finasl of the Australian Open with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Britain’s Johanna Konta on Wednesday.
  • Four-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer set up an all-Swiss showdown with fourth seed and 2014 winner Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals of the Australian Open after beating Germany’s Mischa Zverev 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday.
  • Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-3 to make the last-four stage at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
  • Venus Williams beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to enter the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
  • Coco Vandeweghe defeated seventh seed Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Cricket

  • Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to refrain from naming new administrators for the Board of Control for Cricket in India for another two weeks as the central government was “thinking” of implementing a sports code.
  • The Supreme Court asked the Centre and the BCCI to suggest names for the appointment of board administrators in a sealed cover by January 27 and deferred the hearing till January 30.
  • Rest of India beat Gujarat by six wickets to lift the Irani Cup on Tuesday. Chasing a target of 379, captain Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha staged a match-winning partnership of 316 runs for the fifth wicket to take Rest of India home.
  • Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha will regain his place in the Indian Test team, ahead of Parthiv Patel, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad clarified on Tuesday.
  • Mithali Raj-led Indian women’s cricket team have been drawn with Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand in Group A of the ICC World Cup qualifiers scheduled to be held in Colombo from February 7 to 21, PTI reported.
  • The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday refused to provide S Sreesanth a non-objection certificate to play in the Scotland Cricket League, Hindustan Times reported.
  • Pace bowler Joe Mennie has suffered a fractured skull and some bleeding into his brain after being hit on the head by a ball while training with Big Bash League side Sydney Sixers.
  • Mitchell Johnson produced the most economical figures in Big Bash League history – 4-2-3-3 – as Perth Scorchers beat Melbourne Stars by seven wickets in a semi-final clash on Tuesday.
  • A court refused to grant bail to Bangladeshi cricketer Arafat Sunny on Tuesday after he was charged with posting “intimate” photos of his girlfriend on social media.

Billiards

  • World billiards champion Pankaj Advani on Tuesday won his seventh national title after beating Rupesh Shah 5-1 in the final of the National Billiards and Snooker Championship at Mumbai’s PJ Hindu Gymkhana, PTI reported.

Football

  • All India Football Federation president Praful Patel on Tuesday took a dig at Goan clubs for not having the required “bandwidth” to continue in revamped top tier league in the country, PTI reported.
  • The All India Football Federation might be renamed Football India, president Praful Patel said on Tuesday, PTI reported.
  • Mohun Bagan lost their first points in the I-league this season after being held to a goalless draw by DSK Shivajians at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
  • The All India Football Federation on Tuesday launched the country’s first-ever professional women’s league, the Indian Women’s League, which will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi from January 28 till February 14, PTI reported.
  • Edinson Cavani scored a brace as PSG brushed aside Bordeaux 4-1 away from home in the semi-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue on Tuesday. With the effort, Cavani has now moved to second in the club’s all-time goal-scorers’ list.

Hockey

  • Dabang Mumbai scored a stunning come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the Hockey India League on Tuesday.

Shooting

  • Rio Olympians Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Ayonika Paul were dropped from India’s team for the year’s first ISSF World Cup to be held in Delhi from February 24.