1 and 3 in the next women’s rankings.
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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.
Williams is the overwhelming favorite, and not just based on recent form.
Serena Williams takes just 64 minutes to book her place in the Australian Open final at the expense of Agnieszka Radwanska.
“That’s something that I’ll never forget”, Williams said.
Williams has not dropped a set this year in six matches after winning three of four Grand Slam titles last year. She needed just to take one set off Safarova in order to qualify for the semis. I’m really excited to be in another final.
No German woman has won a major since her idol Graf triumphed at the 1999 French Open, but Kerber will have the chance on Saturday night after progressing to the Australian Open final with a 7-5, 6-2 win over unseeded Briton Johanna Konta in an hour and 22 minutes on Thursday. Konta was the first British woman since 1983 to reach a major semifinal.
It now comes down to one match against Germany’s Angelique Kerber. The case of S. Zheng: a tennis player from China who failed to pass the first round at a Grand Slam in 12 attempts.
The loss was Radwanska’s second at the semi-final stage of the Australian Open, having also been hammered by Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-2 when a heavy favourite in 2014.
The signs were ominous from the beginning for 17-time Grand Slam champion and No. 3-ranked Federer. She easily handled Victoria Azarenka, who were expected by many to at least reach the final of the tournament, by producing double the amount of winners compared to her unforced errors.
“It will be a good match”, said Williams, the defending champion.
“I just remember her serving really well, her moving well, her being determined to win that”. That only came after Williams had already broken though, and by the ninth game of the set she would do so again.
More importantly, she needs to hold serve, as it is the most important aspect of a match when you’re up against Serena Williams. “It blows my mind right now”, said, the 34-year old in a courtside interview. But we’ll see. I think if I do play her, it will be a really good match.
“She goes on court and she just wants to kill it. Going like full power for everything”, Radwanska said.
“I think I played well in the beginning, especially in the first set”. She started unbelievable, with such a power and speed.
Graf must have been watching, as Kerber later revealed that she had received a text message from the former world No. 1, which read: “I’m very happy, greetings from Las Vegas”, (where she resides with her American husband, Andre Agassi).
With the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena because of rain showers in the area, Williams broke Radwanska’s service to open the match and was rarely troubled in the 21-minute set.
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The chirping intensified as Williams served in the sixth game of the second set, and she looked up angrily after her off-balance forehand from the baseline conceding her only service break of the match.
