Australian Open 2017 Results: Wednesday Bracket Winners, Scores and Top Stats

Second-seeded Serena Williams moved one step closer to her 23rd career Grand Slam title and reclaiming the No. 1 ranking, as she made quick work of Great Britain's Johanna Konta in the 2017 Australian Open quarterfinals on Wednesday. 

Standing between Serena and an appearance in the final is surprising veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who upset No. 5 Karolina Pliskova in a three-set thriller.

In men's action, ninth-seeded Rafael Nadal turned in a vintage performance by taking down No. 3 Milos Raonic to make a final with Roger Federer a distinct possibility.

Rafa cannot afford to look ahead, however, as he'll face off with the red-hot Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated No. 11 David Goffin in straight sets to punch his ticket to the semifinals as well.

Here is a rundown of Wednesday's singles scores along with further analysis regarding the day's matches:

Men's Singles	Result
Women's Singles	Result
(9) Rafael Nadal def. (3) Milos Raonic	6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-4
(15) Grigor Dimitrov def. (11) David Goffin	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
(2) Serena Williams def. (9) Johanna Konta	6-2, 6-3
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni def. (5) Karolina Pliskova	6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Williams faced her toughest test of the tournament thus far Wednesday in the form of the hard-hitting Konta, but the future Hall of Famer was never troubled in a fairly straightforward win.

After stumbling at times last season and losing the No. 1 ranking to Angelique Kerber, Serena appears to be back in ideal form and playing some of her best tennis in recent memory.

Provided she manages to go all the way and win the title, she is in line to make some unique history, according to Josh Mansour of the Detroit Free Press:

While all eyes are on Serena as usual, the 2017 Aussie Open has been a remarkable tournament for American women, as Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe advanced to the semis in the other part of the draw.

With Serena's advancement to the semifinals, American women are enjoying their best Grand Slam event in 15 years, per ESPN's Chris McKendry:

Only one woman remaining in the field can spoil the Stars and Stripes' party, and that is the Croatian veteran Lucic-Baroni.

The 34-year-old last reached a Grand Slam semifinal in singles as a 17-year-old in 1999 at Wimbledon, but she pulled off the feat Down Under by outlasting the powerful Pliskova in three sets.

Following the victory, Lucic-Baroni made the following emotional declaration on the court, according to WTA Insider:

The 79th-ranked player in the world didn't play in any Grand Slams from 2004 through 2009, and her best result since then prior to Wednesday was a fourth-round appearance at the 2014 U.S. Open.

As pointed out by fellow player Irina Falconi, Lucic-Baroni's story is one of perseverance:

Few will give her a chance to unseat Serena in the semifinals, but Lucic-Baroni is playing with house money.

While his profile is much higher than that of Lucic-Baroni, Nadal's never-say-die attitude was on full display in the Australian Open quarterfinals as well.

After missing time in recent years due to injuries and not reaching a quarterfinal since 2015, the Spaniard defeated Raonic in straight sets to make his first Grand Slam semi since the 2014 French Open.

Following that victory, Nadal admitted that questioning himself drove him to get back to the top of his game, per the Australian Open's official Twitter account:

Although Nadal won in three sets, Raonic had his opportunities to make a match of it, particularly in the second set.

According to BBC's David Law, Rafa staved off a number of set points to take a 2-0 lead in sets and push the Canadian to the brink of elimination:

Nadal managed to finish the job with momentum on his side, and a 15th career Grand Slam title is within reach.

The tennis world is clamoring for a throwback matchup of Nadal vs. Federer in the Aussie Open final, but Dimitrov has a golden opportunity to play spoiler.

The No. 15 seed was dominant in a quarterfinal win over Goffin, and he has dropped just two sets thus far en route to the semis.

The 25-year-old Bulgarian previously reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2014, but his uneven play since then had prevented him from getting past the fourth round of a Grand Slam prior to the 2017 Australian Open.

He appears to have gotten through that rough patch and made it clear after the match his sights are set on the top of the tennis world:

Dimitrov is undefeated in 2017, with a title in Brisbane, Australia, under his belt, and Law believes he is finally reaching the potential that so many have seen in him over the years:

The Australian Open has largely been about veteran players finding their past magic, but Dimitrov is the only player in the men's draw who seems to be reaching a pinnacle.

He will be at a major disadvantage in terms of experience when he faces Nadal in the semifinals, but with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic out, this is undoubtedly the best chance of his career to win a Grand Slam title.