Australian Open 2017: Schedule, Predictions for Thursday Melbourne Bracket

While her sister Serena remains at the top of the sport, Venus Williams is continuing a late-career resurgence at the 2017 Australian Open.

The elder Williams will take the court Thursday for her second semifinal in her last three Grand Slam appearances. Before reaching this stage at 2016 Wimbledon, Williams had not done so since the 2010 U.S. Open.

Both sisters will play for a chance to meet in the final, along with one of the game's greats on the men's side. Let us take a look at the schedule for Thursday, as well as a brief preview and prediction for each match. The two women's matches will start late Wednesday night (Eastern Time) in the United States, but they will likely end on Thursday.

Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Prediction
CoCo Vandeweghe vs. Venus Williams	10 p.m.	Williams in Two Sets
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs. Serena Williams	11:15 p.m.	Williams in Two Sets
Roger Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka	3:30 a.m.	Federer in Four Sets

Venus Williams vs. CoCo Vandeweghe

There is a vast difference in age and experience between the 25-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe and the 36-year-old Venus Williams.

Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam winner with more than 700 match victories on her resume, while Vandeweghe enters her first semifinal of a major tournament after surpassing the second round of a Grand Slam for just the fourth time in her career. Yet both are looking to break new ground in Melbourne.

For all of her success, Williams has never won the Australian Open. Her best finish was as a finalist in 2003, and this is only her second semifinal appearance ever. She could have a tough time against Vandeweghe, who is on fire after knocking off top-seeded Angelina Kerber in the fourth round and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets.

"What a wonderful result," Williams said, per ESPN.com's Greg Garber. "It's a great win for the U.S. To have that thought that there's going to be at least one U.S. player in the final is great for American tennis. I'm sure she's going to want to be in her first final. I'm going to want to be in only my second final here. So it's going to be a well-contested match."

Williams defeated Vandeweghe in their only previous matchup on clay in Rome last year. In the pair's first meeting on hard court, unforced errors could be a deciding factor.

Williams is averaging just over 30 unforced errors per match in this tournament, while Vandeweghe is averaging over 32. These numbers are similar, but this could be a major factor for Vandeweghe, who relies on her serve to create scoring. 

Fatigue should not be a major issue for Williams, as he has yet to play a third set so far. She also has won more return games this tournament than Vandeweghe has, which means Venus can keep the young American's serves in play to force mistakes in volleys. It will be close, but expect experience to win out here.

Serena Williams vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Serena Williams is a staple at this stage of Grand Slam tournaments, as Josh Mansour of the Detroit Free Press noted:

She will look to win her seventh Australian Open and first since 2015. However, she will face another player in the midst of a magical late-career run in Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. 

The 34-yearold entered this tournament with just one match victory ever in Melbourne, and that came all the way back in 1998. Miraculously, she finds herself one win from an appearance in the final, and the Croatian is becoming a sentimental favorite based on the emotional comments she has made in interviews like this, courtesy of the Australian Open:

Despite entering her 20th year as a professional, Lucic-Baroni has only 380 career wins, which pales in comparison to Williams' 776. However, Lucic-Baroni is playing some of the best tennis of her career in this tournament, having knocked off third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in Round 2 before defeating fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the last round.

While those wins, and her current run as a whole, are impressive, she faces a much stiffer challenge Thursday.

Williams is 2-0 for her career against Lucic-Baroni, with both victories coming back in 1998. Lucic-Baroni is making her first semifinal appearance in a major since the 1999 Wimbledon, and this marks the second time she has advanced past the third round since that tournament.

Lucic-Baroni will need to fend off Williams' strong serve to have any shot. The Croatian won at least four return games in each of her previous matches, but that number may need to reach six or seven in this bout. Serena has won more than 75 percent of her first serve points in all but one of her matches thus far, which is an alarmingly high rate.

As a result, Williams is averaging roughly four aces per set. Lucic-Baroni will need to win extended volleys, but she may not have enough energy to sustain this throughout an entire match. She went three sets three times already, while Williams has yet to reach a third set. In the end, look for Williams' strength and freshness to prevail.

Roger Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka

Age is once again a key storyline in this matchup, which features two of the sport's heavyweights.

Roger Federer is defying the odds at age 35, overcoming a recent history of injuries and fatigue while making history in the process. Here is what he accomplished in his impressive quarterfinal win over Mischa Zverev, per CNN:

Federer is seeking his fifth Australian Open title, and his penchant for reaching Grand Slam semifinals continues to be unmatched, per Diario Record's Jose Morgado:

He and his Swiss counterpart Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, have plenty of history, but Federer has been more successful in their meetings. He is 18-3 against Wawrinka, having won eight of the last 10 meetings. 

Even more impressive is that Federer is 13-0 when the two meet on hard courts. For his career, Federer is 668-139 on hard surfaces, which is good for an 83 percent winning mark. Wawrinka is 247-142 in his career, which equates to a 64 percent mark.

It is imperative for each player to win the first set in this matchup, particularly for Wawrinka. Federer wins 93 percent of his matches when he takes the first set. By comparison, Wawrinka wins 84 percent of the time when he takes the opening set and loses 72 percent of the time when he drops it.

Both players have yet to lose the first set in this tournament, so something has to give.

Federer already proved he is in fine enough shape to go the distance against top players. He defeated fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori, a player he had beaten only three times prior, in five sets in the fourth round. Thus, it does not appear his age or condition should work against him against Wawrinka.

Federer has to be favored here. He has owned Wawrinka throughout his career, so he should have plenty of answers Thursday while being able to exploit his opponent's weaknesses. This may be the last great run of Federer's career, and do not expect it to end now.

Tournament statistics are courtesy of AUSOpen.com. Men's career statistics are courtesy of ATPWorldTour.com. Women's career statistics are courtesy of WTATennis.com.