The 20-year-old rose to the top of the WTA rankings following Ashleigh Barty’s shock retirement and already has four singles titles to her name in 2022.
Browsing: Ashleigh Barty
The top-ranked Barty won the first set with one service break against the 27th-seeded Collins.
The world number one went into the semi-final on an expectant Rod Laver Arena having not come close to dropping a set all tournament and eased to a 6-1 6-3 victory in only 62 minutes.
The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion, seeded 13, won the first set on Margaret Court Arena but the nerveless Anisimova saved two match points in the third to pull off a huge 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10/5) upset.
The world number one is now 7-0 for the season after winning the Adelaide International and has yet to drop a set, easing past the Italian 30th seed 6-2, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.
Former world number one, Simona Halep, dropped a further three places down the rankings to 12 after missing a large chunk of 2021 season due to a calf injury sustained in May.
Second seed Osaka, the favourite for the gold medal following Ashleigh Barty’s first-round exit, beat the Swiss 6-3 6-2.
Tournament Director Craig Tiley also assured that the safety of players and their staff is top priority, vowing a “happy slam” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Barty was looking to become the first Australian woman to make the final in Melbourne since Wendy Turnbull in 1980 and, as the top seed and world No 1, expectations were sky high.
The world number two was edged out in the first-set tiebreak and never recovered, suffering a double break in the second set before going down 7-6, 6-2.
Ashleigh Barty claimed the biggest title of her career with victory over former world number one Karolina Pliskova in the Miami Open final.
Anett Kontaveit brought Hsieh Su-wei’s Miami Open run to a dramatic end with a 3-6 6-2 7-5 comeback win on Tuesday to become the first player through to the semi-finals.
Romanian Halep will now meet the winner of the late semifinal between defending champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and US Open winner Sloane Stephens for the title on Sunday
French Open: Serena fights back to reach third round
While her talk on arrival at Edgbaston was purely about her delight to be playing again, she clearly has bigger goals now.