For a few moments anyway, it seemed as if the ghost of Roberta Vinci had entered Melbourne Park.
Advertisement
Agnieszka Radwanska said she had never faced a better set after Serena Williams blew her away 6-0, 6-4 in a crushing Australian Open semi-final victory on Thursday.
No stranger to adversity, Williams has emerged from setbacks many times in her career. The 25-year-old Canadian beat Gael Monfils, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in a night match, continuing his strong form that saw him beat Roger Federer in the Brisbane International final and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round here. I think it was actually good for us to have a little bit of a break.
“When you serve 190 kilometres per hour wide, I don’t know who’s going to take that”.
If Williams is complacent, Radwanska does have a chance to secure a place in Saturday’s women’s final. At one point, they engaged in a sensational 15-point rally that ended with a perfectly executed and bold drop shot.
Williams’ win over fourth-seeded Radwanska provided another yet reminder of her dominance in the women’s game.
Williams, however, broke again in the ninth game and then served out with three aces to seal a match in which she belted 42 winners to Radwanska’s four. In 2003, after her sister Yetunde Price’s murder, Williams fell into depression.
Kerber said her nerves should not be a problem in the final-“I have nothing to lose against Serena”. “Surely. I think in these situations I think people become skeptical when it’s sort of kept in-house”. With Konta and Andy Murray reaching the semifinals, it marked the first time since 1977 two British players found themselves at that stage at a major.
Djokovic, who is now into his sixth Australian final – having won all five previous, held his first service game at love and broke Federer in the second. But then, she pulled away – so quickly that Radwanska’s run was quickly forgotten.
“Now that was my focus, to play better in the bigger one”.
Kerber is fortunate to be here. I tried to put every ball on court. “Johanna had a great two weeks, and she will have a great future”. Serena Williams was just being her dominant self.
“I started playing aggressive again in the second set and it worked out”.
Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber meet in the final of the 2016 Australian Open.
“I thought it was going to be a really rough part”.
Now it’s on to Kerber. She hadn’t played an official match since her devastating loss at the 2015 U.S. Open. “But otherwise, just too good”.
Her performance was so complete, 18-time major victor Chris Evert asked her fellow TV commentators on ESPN, “How can you say she’s not the greatest of all time when she plays like this?” Kerber has produced 70 winners in her last three matches and has had 20 or less unforced errors in her last four matches. Overall, Kerber is 1-5 against Williams.
The 27-year-old Zhang entered the Australian Open with a 0-14 record in Grand Slam singles matches. Kerber is 1-5 all-time against Williams and is the first left-handed player Williams will face in the tournament. “I have a lot of support from Germany and around the world”.
Williams remains unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska, whom she beat in the 2012 Wimbledon final. Now I’m in the finals here. “It’s incredible to play against the No. 1”.
Advertisement
“Physically I am feeling better”. She said so. “I have to be honest: I think she made a couple of mistakes”, she said.
