Osaka reaches Melbourne semis for first time

Tennis - Australian Open - Quarter-final - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 23, 2019. Japan's Naomi Osaka acknowledges the crowd after winning her match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. REUTERS/Aly Song

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka managed to keep a lid on her simmering temper and powered to a 6-4 6-1 win over Elina Svitolina on Wednesday to book a spot in the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time.

The 21-year-old, who will play Karolina Pliskova for a place in the final, committed a string of unforced errors but still proved too strong for the sixth-seeded Ukrainian.