Veteran tennis player Venus Williams has edged Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a tight encounter to advance to her first Australian Open semi-final in 14 years.

In a milestone 50th singles win at Melbourne Park, the 36-year-old former world No.1 defeated the Russian 24th seed 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in one hour and 48 minutes on Tuesday.

The 13th seed will face the winner of the day’s second quarter-final between fellow American Coco Vandeweghe or French Open champion Garbine Muguruza on Thursday for a place in the title match.