But after her breakthrough US Open title and sweeping past Elina Svitolina to reach the final four at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, Osaka says only the Australian Open crown will do.

The 21-year-old will next take on Karolina Pliskova on Thursday after the Czech saved four match points to oust seven-times champion Serena Williams 6-4 4-6 7-5 in a quarter-final cliffhanger.

That result mean there's no repeat of an Osaka-Williams US Open final, when the American had a fiery meltdown at the chair umpire.

Osaka had a far easier ride against sixth-seeded Svitolina, blasting her way through 6-4 6-1 in just over an hour on Rod Laver Arena.

Both players faltered on serve in the first set before Osaka settled into the match and stormed ahead.

The Ukrainian, who the WTA Finals title late last year, sought treatment for a neck injury midway through the second set but Osaka was already well on top.

Osaka said winning her US Open title had given her hunger for more success.

"I'm not really satisfied - like, I am happy that I'm here but at the same time I want to keep going," Osaka said.

"I know that a few months ago I would have given anything to be in the semi-finals of a slam but it's like this weird feeling that you want to do the next big thing.

"And especially now that I won a grand slam, and I feel like I want to win another one and I'm so close and I just want to keep going."

Osaka said she tried to work on keeping her focus after been taken to three sets in her last two matches because she played better when she was calm.

She only lost her cool once during the Svitolina match when she led the first set 5-4, 0-40 but needed four set points to break her opponent to wrap it up.

"I feel like I play better when I'm calm - when I'm not calm, it just makes my life harder," said Osaka, whose previous best result in Melbourne was last year's quarters.

"There is an inner peace I can tap into sometimes during my matches, and it's kind of hard to get to, but once I'm there, it's really easy.

"Not easy, but nothing can really bother me. So that's just something that I'm trying to learn how to do consistently."

Australian Associated Press