An inspired world number one Serena Williams demolished Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska Thursday to surge into her 26th Grand Slam final and zero in on a seventh Australian Open title.
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Serena Williams of the United States celebrates after winning a point against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.
After a terrific 2015, Serena took some time off from the game to get all charged up for the first Grand Slam of the year.
If six-time champion Williams wins Saturday’s final against No. 7-seeded Angelique Kerber, she’ll equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, a record in the Open era, and the second-most in history behind Margaret Court’s 24.
The defending champion, seeded number one and chasing a 22nd Grand Slam title, saw off fifth seed Sharapova 6-4 6-1 at Melbourne Park. “Just said to myself, ‘I need to figure something out, ‘ and I started playing aggressive like I had all week”.
Serena Williams attacked Maria Sharapova’s strength and it helped extend her complete domination of their rivalry, earning the six-time Australian Open champion a place in the semifinals.
“I took so much time off trying to prepare for this”, Williams added.
After beating Britain’s Johanna Konta 7-5 6-2, Kerber was asked on court if Graf might give her some tips on how to beat Williams. “I don’t think anyone (else) can really play on that level”.
“I’m really looking forward to taking this challenge and I must play my best tennis”.
“I was not playing so good past year in the big tournaments”, she said. Kerber is getting at least 54 percent of her first serves in play and has won no less than 56 percent of those points.
It was a typically tight first set against her long-time rival but she finally came through after a brutal 55 minutes.
“Nothing’s guaranteed in sports; I still have to win two matches against potentially two extremely tough opponents”, Williams said, reports the New York Times. “In important moments I stayed composed – overall it was a very solid performance”. “It’s not a stat that’s set in stone – I still have to win two matches”. She goes out of her way to say hi.
“He’s the type of player who makes you better”.
“I think the only thing that I could do better is if I put more first serves in, that would help for sure”, Radwanska said.
The second set was more of a case of one-way traffic, with Kerber only committing 11 unforced errors throughout the match.
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At 4-4, Radwanska airmailed a forehand long at break point, giving Williams a lead she would not relinquish.
