Serena Williams is just one win away from clinching her seventh Australian Open title, after she easily disposed of Agnieszka Radwanska in their semi-final at the Australian Open on Thursday.
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In just 64 minutes, Serena crushed Radwanska 6-0, 6-4 at the Rod Laver Arena.
It’s the second time that Radwanska has won through to the semi-finals, after she first did so in 2014, which is a solid turnaround from last year when she suffered her worst result at the Australian Open in five years, after losing in the fourth round.
Williams finished with eight aces – all in the second set – and has dropped only 26 games in six rounds in a dominating run that included a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 5 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, a rematch of the 2015 final.
If Williams wins Saturday’s final against seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber, she will equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles title, a record in the Open era, and the second most in history behind Margaret Court’s 24.
“I’ve always said that when I’m playing at my best, it’s hard to beat me”.
After winning the first six games of her semifinal match against No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena Williams began to show signs of tightness.
Radwanska agreed that Williams’ first set was as close to tennis perfection as she had ever seen.
The crowd rallied for Radwanska – wanting a longer match – but when Williams broke for 5-4, the contest was over. The American is just too dominant at her best, and if she continues from where she left off in the quarter-finals, Williams will no doubt build on a flawless 8-0 winning record over the Polish player. From there she’d serve out the match, three aces and a forehand volley victor from mid court.
“Now that was my focus, to play better in the bigger one”.
Radwanska suggested the world No 1 may be unbeatable in this kind of mood.
“When you serve 190 (kilometres per hour, 118 miles per hour) wide, I don’t know who’s going to take that”.
The victor will face Kerber or Konta in Saturday’s final; uncharted territory for both players. “Just said to myself, ‘I need to figure something out, ‘ and I started playing aggressive like I had all week”. That only came after Williams had already broken though, and by the ninth game of the set she would do so again. Is she can frustrate Serena by absorbing the American’s power game – something she’s yet to figure out – and wait for errors to creep into her opponent’s play, there is a definite chance for her. “It just feels so good; I didn’t think that I would do this well this fast”.
But Williams, 34, held off her opponent’s charge. With a more composed demeanor, a steadier serve and improved zip on her groundstrokes, Radwanska finally resembled the player who entered the semifinal on a tear.
“It’s really special to reach my first Grand Slam final”.
The independent review announced in a news conference at Melbourne Park, earlier reported by The Associated Press, will be funded by the Tennis Integrity Board, which oversees the anti-corruption unit set up by the sport in 2008 to combat match-fixing.
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If Konta prevails, she would become the first women’s grand slam finalist from the United Kingdom since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977.
