Serena Williams celebrates after defeating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in their semifinal match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday.
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“I just feel like I’m playing the best I can and I can’t believe I’m in the final!” the 21-time Grand Slam champion said after the match.
Miss Williams will wait for the outcome of the second semi-final match between Angelique Kerber and the British-Australian revelation, Johanna Konta. The greater the margin Williams puts between her and the rest, the more she knows they will be coming at her, the more paranoid she becomes and the more thoroughly she prepares.
Kerber, who became the first German to adance to a final at the Australian Open since Anke Huber in 1996, is looking forward to playing against Serena in the summit clash.
“I think she started unbelievable, with such a power and speed”.
“I definitely think I needed the time off”, she said.
If Kerber does the nearly impossible – Williams holds an 8-0 record in her last eight grand slam finals – Germany will have its first grand slam victor since Steffi Graf in 1999.
“You know, if she’s playing her game, it’s a different level …” I had to figure out something if I want to stay in here. She’s through to her 7th #ausopen final.
Although unable to add to her collection of 69 singles titles stretching back to 1999, she was recently honoured as the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the year, becoming the first active female athlete to win the award since the World Cup-winning US Women’s National Team in 1999 and the first active tennis player since Chris Evert in 1976 to earn the distinction.
“I love it in Australia; it’s the only tournament that I play that if I lose early, I still hang out”, Williams told ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the match.
Radwanska sunk to 0-9 against Williams in a rematch of the 2012 Wimbledon final. Williams, serving for the victory, sent down three booming aces and won it on the first match point, easily keeping intact her record of not dropping a set all tournament.
With the win, Williams reached her 26th grand slam final and fifth in the past six majors. She has won 39 of her last 40 Grand Slam matches across six major tournaments. No. 7 Kerber broke No. 14 Azarenka’s serve to end the match, her first win in seven matches against the Belarussian. If tougher opponents haven’t challenged her, neither will Kerber.
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.
A blowout wasn’t out of the question when Kerber grabbed a 3-0 lead, but the 47th-ranked Konta – who joked this week that she was “Jason Bourne” of the Bourne movie series due to her British, Australian and Hungarian passports – stormed back for 4-3.
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Making history has not always come easily to Williams, who past year crumbled when two wins away from the calendar grand slam, which would have been a first since Graf’s in 1988.
