Serena makes it an all-Williams final at Australian Open
MELBOURNE — It will be an all-Williams family affair at the Australian Open final after Serena Williams joined sister Venus in reaching the championship match on Thursday.
Serena Williams, who holds a record six Australian Open titles in her career, journeyed to the final after barely breaking a sweat in a 6-2, 6-1 semifinal win against 79th-ranked Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia.
Earlier — but not that much earlier as Serena’s match only required 50 minutes —Venus Williams reached her first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 2009 courtesy of a 6-7 (3=7), 6-2, 6-3 semifinal win over unseeded fellow American Coco Vandeweghe.
"I was really proud of Venus, she’s a total inspiration for me," Serena said. "She’s my big sister, she’s my world and my life. I”m just so happy for her, for both of us to be in the final. It is a dream come true."
"She’s my toughest opponent," Serena added. "No one has beaten me as much as Venus. I just feel whatever happens, we’ve won. A Williams is going to win this tournament."
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The final between the 36-year-old Venus and 35-year-old Serena represents an historic Open Era moment for women’s tennis. They will be the oldest two players to contest a Grand Slam final.
The sisters have played each other 27 times in the past, with Serena leading 16-11 overall. Saturday’s final will be their ninth at a Grand Slam, and Serena leads the way with a 6-2 advantage.
It’s been nearly eight years since there’s been an all-Williams Grand Slam final — it was Serena who won the day at that 2009 Wimbledon outing.
They’ve only ever played in an Australian Open final once before — it was the only time Venus ever reached a final at Melbourne Park — and it was again Serena who captured that 2003 honor.
While Venus has pride, an eighth career Grand Slam title and a possible return to a top 10 ranking at stake in Saturday’s match, there’s no denying that Serena has more to lose.
If Serena wins the match she will return to the No. 1 ranking, pushing Angelique Kerber of Germany from the position.
A victory for Serena would also establish another record for the 35-year-old. She would take over as the all-time Open Era record holder for with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, breaking a tie with Steffi Graf. A win would also see Serena move within one of tying Australian Margaret Court’s overall record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Prior to the match against Lucic-Baroni, Serena was not happy with her serve. On Thursday, Williams never faced a break point on serve, and won 24 of 26 points on her first serve.
"Serve was a little better today," Serena said. "I still wanted to be a little bit better. I knew I had to come out and serve well. I had to take my chances as early as I could."
Follow Sandra Harwitt on Twitter @TennisGrapevine.