Kerber’s next opponent is Serena Williams, who stormed past No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska with a dominant 6-0, 6-4 win in the previous semifinal.
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Radwanska, 26, was in serious trouble with Williams attacking her vulnerable second serve, and a double fault left her flailing 0-3 behind.
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.
Jo Konta’s record-breaking run at the Australian Open came to a halt today when she lost a rollercoaster semi-final to Angelique Kerber.
Johanna Konta has three passports (British, Australian and Hungarian), two coaches (Esteban Carril and Jose-Manuel Garcia) and one dream (to be the best).
Serena Williams, who plays Angelique Kerber in the women’s final at the Australian Open on Saturday, says the price of fame means she doesn’t get out much, but she’ll take that scenario as long as she’s at the top of the women’s game.
Konta, making her main draw debut in Melbourne Park, was bidding to become the first British woman to reach a major final since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon 1977 but she fell short against the composed seventh seed.
Undeterred, she sharpened up and began pushing Kerber around, and with power and precision returning to her groundstrokes, Konta got a break back to be 1-3 behind.
The 28-year-old, buoyed by a new-found self-belief inspired by fellow German Steffi Graf, proved too hot to handle for Konta as she won 7-5 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
STAT OF THE DAY: – 7: number of wins in 7 semifinal appearances by Williams at Melbourne Park; she’ll try to make it 7 wins in 7 finals on Saturday.
Laughing with the crowd after her win, Kerber appealed: “So Steffi, write me please”.
“I started playing aggressive again in the second set and it worked out”.
Otherwise Williams joins Graf for the Open Era lead in grand slams. She will win many, many tournaments in the future.
Williams remains unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska.
Williams raced through the first set in stunning style, cranking up 18 winners to just four errors, and was nearly flawless at the net, too: 10-11. “I’ve really enjoyed the battles, I think that has been a really good experience”. “I think whatever pressure or whatever buzz there is outside, it only affects me as much as I let it”. Kerber said Graf “is still in shape and she is hitting very hard and moving still like she was moving a few years ago”. “I don’t live my life and feel my happiness or joy on my wins and losses”.
“I was just standing there kind of watching her play”, the fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska said after her 6-0, 6-4 drubbing by Williams on Thursday.
Speaking to the interviewer, Barker said that the other players’ coaches will be going to watch Konta’s matches to “find her weaknesses and where she does not move so well on the court”.
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Konta, the self-professed “female Jason Bourne”, has tackled many a foreign foe in recent months and, despite this defeat, she takes only positives from a glorious tournament, which will see her break the world’s top 30 and be seeded at the French Open.
