Victory with a vengeance for Venus, Vandeweghe

Venus Williams has reached her 21st Grand Slam semifinal, her first at the Australian Open in 14 years.

CoCo Vandeweghe advanced to her first major semifinal, anywhere, beating Grand Slam winners in back-to-back rounds. The one sure outcome when they meet this week will be an American in the final at Melbourne Park.

The 36-year-old Williams beat No. 24-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 7-6 (3), Tuesday, becoming the oldest player to reach the Australian Open women’s semifinals in the Open era.

She’ll be meeting a confident Vandeweghe, who dictated play against French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in a 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal blowout.

On the men’s side, No. 4-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland became the first semifinalist with a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The No. 35-ranked Vandeweghe had upset top- ranked Angelique Kerber, who won the Australian and U.S. titles last year, in the fourth round, and followed Tuesday with her 10th career win against a top-10 player.

Vandeweghe, from Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego, saved the only break point she faced in the first set with an ace, and conceded only 10 points in the 28-minute second set. Of her 31 winners, 14 were from her powerful forehand side.

“Once I got rolling in the second, it was like a freight train,” she said. “You couldn’t stop it.”

Williams has advanced through the tournament without dropping a set, and isn’t ready to stop there in the latest installment of her career revival. “It’s wonderful to start the year out with this appearance,” said Williams, who hadn’t reached the semifinals in Australia since 2003, the year she lost the final to her sister, Serena. “I want to go further. I’m not happy just with this. But I’m so happy to be in the position to like go further.”

Williams didn’t reach the quarterfinals at any of the Grand Slams from 2011 — when she was diagnosed with the Sjogren Sydnrome, which saps energy and causes joint pain — until the 2015 Australian Open. She lost in the first round here last year, but reached the Wimbledon semifinals and ended the year ranked 17th.

Vandeweghe lost in the first round here and at the U.S. Open last year, but has hit her form in Melbourne.

Williams said the quarterfinal results were a “great win for the U.S.”

Serena Williams, targeting a record 23rd major, will face Johanna Konta in her quarterfinal.