The world No.1, now into his fifth straight Grand Slam final, was on a different level to the 17-time major victor in the opening two sets as he dished out a dominant, four-set semi-final victory.
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This is probably the best slam I’ve played in a year. “But even if I don’t win, I really can take away that I’ve been really consistent, and I want to continue that”.
Williams cleaned up the first set in just 20 minutes before Radwanska elicited the largest cheer of the match at that time when she held serve in the first game of the second set.
She’ll face seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber in the final. I know that she brings a lot, you know, to the game. I think she will go out there and she know that she must play also good tennis to beat me.
The dream of reaching her first Grand Slam final was over in 82 minutes yesterday as JK finally stopped rolling and was outplayed 7-5, 6-2 by her German rival.
Last season she tied Williams and Karolina Pliskova for most match wins of the year (53) and won four Premier titles. When I make mistakes, I try to learn from my mistakes, make it just once and not twice.
It was that attitude that helped her overturn a 2-5 second set deficit in her quarter-final against Victoria Azarenka and gave her a first win over the Belarusian in their seventh match.
When Serena Williams plays as well as she did in the semifinals of the Australian Open, there’s little an opponent can do to challenge her. I just remember her serving really well, her moving well, her being determined to win that. But what makes this final a very interesting one is the fact that everyone wants to see the underdog win.
“I was able to do everything that I needed to do”, Williams said of Thursday’s match.
Bartoli said: “It’s special to play during night time because you would’ve had the whole day to think about the final”. Can the German defy the odds again in the final? Her performance since then has been absolutely stellar and past results suggest that Williams plays at her best in Grand Slam Tournament finals.
“I think right now I have the confidence to be really a Top 5 player and feel it. I think I’ve grown in the last few years to be a Top 10 player”. The left-handed German grew up idolizing Graf and did manage to hit with Graf briefly a year ago.
Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Roger Federer in four sets to advance to the final of the Australian Open. “She’s very confident in her game and the new things she’s worked on, she really feels comfortable with, so she goes for the shots without thinking”.
It did not take long, however, before Williams had set the record straight by dealing efficiently with Camila Giorgi – as tricky a first-round opponent as could ever have come out of the hat – and from then on she has virtually been freewheeling downhill.
– Kerber ready to protect Graf’s turf, says The Age. “So I felt like I really committed myself, and I need to commit myself and my body and take some time off, restart”.
The first final of 2016 will be played on Friday afternoon – the women’s doubles championship between the No. 1-ranked team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza play Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. She’s won all six of her matches in open air. Her Grand Slam wins still totaled 21, trailing behind her goal of reaching Steffi Graf’s 22 and beyond.
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The Australian great says “This is not a club that I’m a member of – it’s an open course”.
