In control from start to finish, Williams needed all of 48 minutes to overwhelm Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday in a semifinal that felt more like a training session.
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Germany’s Angelique Kerber beat Venus Williams on Thursday, 6-4, 6-4, to set up a second Grand Slam final against Serena Williams this year.
Serena took down unseeded Elena Vesnina in straight sets in her semifinals matchup, winning 6-2, 6-0.
Vesnina would secure a couple of holds towards the end of the set, but Serena was just too efficient.
Kerber’s win over Serena in Melbourne kept the American one win behind Steffi Graf’s open era record of 22 grand slams and she will try to do the same in Saturday’s final.
Angelique Kerber has warned Serena Williams she’s more risky on grass, ahead of Saturday’s Australian Open final rematch in the Wimbledon decider.
36-year-old Venus Williams, herself a five-time Wimbledon victor, had been turning back the clock at the all-England Club, but she ran out of steam against the 28-year old Kerber, the number 2 player in the world.
“If you’re going to cry and be insane after every loss, I think your nerves will be dead by the end of your career”, she said.
“Obviously I’m 0 for 2, so I’m determined to get at least one this year”, Serena told the BBC. Match fatigue could have played a role as Venus (10 hours, 18 minutes) has spent about four hours more on court than Kerber (six hours, 15 minutes) and that’s not even counting the doubles matches she’s played.
She managed only 21 points in a match that shaved three minutes off the previous quickest women’s semifinal of the modern era in which Dinara Safina was obliterated by Venus Williams in 51 minutes in 2009. “That’s what makes me Serena”.
The 28-year-old German retained her edge in the second set and weathered a clutch of Venus winners before closing out the match with a blistering cross-court forehand.
Later Thursday, she and partner Ekaterina Makarova take on the sisters in the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles.
Williams made a awful start to the second set by immediately dropping serve and making no inroads against Kerber’s ball.
Williams’ opponent was young Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, someone Serena had played four times previously and had a 3-1 head-to- head record against. “And especially on this surface I knew she could really bring it to me so I was ready”.
Her only finals defeats on London’s famous grass courts came against Sharapova, then Venus in 2008. I feel really dominant when I do serve like that.
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“I think right now I have a lot of experience from my last few years on tour and I’m enjoying my tennis life at the moment”.
