In a titanic first set, No. 5 Sharapova broke Williams in the opening game and then held.
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Williams’ win sends her into a seventh Australian Open semi-final – where she will face Agnieszka Radwanska – and she has won the title every time she has reached this stage in Melbourne.
Williams is now two victories from her 22nd Grand Slam singles title and a tie with Steffi Graf for the record in the Open era, which began in 1968. Doesn’t matter who I’m playing, I just try to go out there and play the best I can.
She had been serving well this tournament, leading all women in aces – with more than twice as many as Williams (52-25). Hopefully I can play my best tennis in the semi, otherwise I will be in big trouble.
In the men s draw, top seed Novak Djokovic is up against Kei Nishikori, the Japanese world number seven who stunned the Serb to reach the 2014 US Open final.
Williams woke up, however, and sent Sharapova into a temporary tailspin with a crushing return in the fourth game, later breaking for 2-2.
“Plus, when I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game”, she said. “I think since the beginning of (this) tournament she plays very well”.
Female tennis has been dominated by Williams for some time and she has owned Sharapova when these two meet head-to-head. In the first round she knocked down world No. 36 Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 with the match against the Italian her closest all tournament. “Certainly I was trying to just concentrate on the match when I was out there, but, like I said, it’s been a hard, hard few days”.
“She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players”, Sharapova said.
It meant the five-time Grand Slam winner’s demoralising jinx against Williams remains intact, dating back to 2004 when she last beat her in the Wimbledon final. “I missed three or four easy shots”.
An untimely bout of food poisoning should have given Sharapova hope of stopping Williams’ run of head-to-head dominance at 17 matches. She makes you work.
“She’s at a different level”, Sharapova said.
Sharapova, the runner-up of last year’s final, has been in a dog-fight in her last two matches, surviving Laura Davis of the United States 6-1, 6-7, 6-0 before eking out a tough two-set victory over Belinda Bencic 7-5, 7-5.
“Something about her game”. There is no reason I shouldn’t be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position than any previous round. Serena has gotten to this point without really being tested and is coming off a match in which she had 13 aces.
Williams held in an eight-minute ninth game and from the end where the sun was causing the server problems, and she would capitalise on that.
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“I think the person who’s winning could definitely feel the pressure because there is a lot of expectations”. When they last met at a Grand Slam – the second round of the 2012 U.S. Open – Radwanska won in three sets.
