Williams threatened to embarrass her semi-final opponent Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday, annihilating the Pole 6-0 in a first set that took just 20 minutes.
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Angelique Kerber said Thursday she feels a responsibility to protect her fellow German Steffi Graf’s Grand Slam record from Serena Williams, but admits the job in front of her is formidable.
After she lost her first match in Indian Wells, Calif., last March, Kerber went to train in Las Vegas to train, where she spent some time working with Graf-the woman Williams is chasing and the last German to win a Grand Slam title.
Win or lose, Kerber will depart Melbourne as a top-five player – and world No. 2 if she can become the first player since Samantha Stosur in NY in 2011 to conquer the American in a grand slam final.
“I would say this is probably the best Slam I’ve played in a year, and I’ve won a lot in a year”, said Williams, the top seed.
Williams, 34, has a 5-1 win record against Kerber and vastly more big match experience, but she is not underestimating the threat she faces.
“The top players are going to take note of her run”.
The British No 1’s remarkable run Down Under ended with a 7-5 6-2 defeat to Angelique Kerber this morning.
Konta, 24, was eliminated in the first round of the qualifying event for last year’s tournament but she said she had not felt overawed at playing in the latter stages of a grand slam.
Kerber subdued the British main draw debutante in 82 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to set up a meeting with defending champion Serena Williams, becoming the first German to reach the final at Melbourne Park since Anke Huber in 1996. I was just playing literally a point at a time. Williams said she would implement the lessons taken from her crushing disappointment against Vinci last September, but that in another respect, little had changed. “But I just went back to my game plan and started to play aggressive again”, said Williams.
“I wish I could have one more chance to play another match here this week, but I don’t, so of course I’m disappointed maybe for parts of my fans and also for myself”.
“I’m really excited to be in the final – it just kind of blows my mind right now”.
SERENA WILLIAMS ADMITTED she did not expect to make it all the way through to the Australian Open final after limited preparations heading into the tournament. She told reporters that she didn’t feel like the loss was a missed opportunity, and was already looking to the future: “I’m really hungry to keep improving”, Konta explained.
Both players were unexpected semi-finalists, Kerber after knocking out Victoria Azarenka in the last eight, and it was no surprise that each wavered when the pressure moments arrived.
The Sydney, Australia-born Konta broke Zhang in the first game of the second set, but the qualifier broke her back to make it 1-1.
“I really enjoyed the battles”, she said.
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Radwanska could do nothing against an opponent playing on a different level, and only won seven points the entire set – four of them from Williams unforced errors.
