This will be the first meeting between two players who are bound to feel some degree of anxiety – Konta because she’s never been this far at a major (she lost in the first round in six of her previous eight main-draw appearances), and Kerber because she’ll be expected to roll through the match to reach her first Grand Slam final.
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Her reward is a clash with Johanna Konta, the first British woman to qualify for a Grand Slam semi-final for 33 years.
The world No. 47 then met 21st seed Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round where she held on to win after dropping the first set and going into a gruelling third set tiebreaker 4-6, 6-4, 8-6.
“Physically I’m feeling a lot better, mentally I needed that break after the Open”, she said, but “I didn’t think I would do this well this fast”.
With not one, or two but three passports in her possession, Britain’s Johanna Konta could have been forgiven for suffering an identity crisis.
Radwanska, set to improve her ranking to world No. 3 after a run to the last four, said she would be grabbing the popcorn on Saturday night in anticipation of a great show. Before I went on court I was practicing in to be more aggressive.
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.
Konta has been reminded in her post-match encounters with the British media that there’s quite a bit of excitement back home.
This is an ominous sign for Williams’ opponent on Saturday, Angelique Kerber, is into her first Grand Slam final.
Radwanska is second for the tournament in return games won at 60 per cent (29/48), which is also better than Williams’ 53 per cent (21/40).
“I agree (they will both make the final) as I’m really enjoying the way that Konta is playing.” he told the BBC’s David Law and the WTA’s Courtney Nguyen.
Radwanska’s serve was like shooting practice for the American, particularly given her first serve sat at a lowly 50 per cent in the first set, which Williams sealed to love in just 20 minutes. The Scot, seeded second, will play Canada’s Milos Raonic on Friday. She hadn’t played since last year’s U.S. Open semifinal loss. The German went on the attack against the much-favoured Azarenka and it paid off, but should she tighten up she may struggle to impose herself. “We always get along”, she said. I don’t know. If I need to break something, hopefully I don’t break anything.
CANADIAN CONNECTION: Raonic is attempting to become the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final. But she was clear about which nationality counts most yesterday as she celebrated reaching the last four at the Australian Open after beating China’s Zhang Shuai.
Give Serena Williams the Australian Open trophy now, because beaten semi-finalist Agnieszka Radwanska says no one can beat her. Serena looks to be back in rare in form, as she’s trimmed her errors down in a big way and has played no more than 17 games in her last five matches.
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The world No 1 took time out of the game after failing to complete a calendar Grand Slam in NY with a knee injury which also hindered her at the Hopman Cup earlier this month.
