Sports
Serena, Djokovic advance into Australian Open final
Serena Williams underlined the difference in class and power between her and the rest of the women’s field with a 6-0 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to reach her seventh Australian Open final.
Every time the American has made the final at Melbourne Park, she has gone on to win the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
Victory in Saturday’s final against either seventh seed Angelique Kerber or unseeded Briton Johanna Konta, would give her a 22nd grand slam title, moving her to a tie with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era.
Williams romped through the first set in just 20 minutes before Radwanska showed some fight in the second but she was unable to stop the momentum of the American, who clinched her place in the final in 64 minutes.
Read also: Australian Open: Serena, Sharapova, Djokovic, Federer cruise on
“I’m really excited to be in another final. It blows my mind right now,” Williams said in a courtside interview. “I just feel like I’m being the best I can and I can’t believe I’m in another final.
“She started really well in the second set and making some great shots and hitting it deep and I just thought that I had to be aggressive.”
Similarly, champion Novak Djokovic foiled a stirring fightback from Roger Federer to defeat the Swiss 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Thursday and charge into a fifth successive Grand Slam final.
Storming to a two-set lead within an hour, Djokovic appeared destined to complete a stinging humiliation but the net-rushing Federer responded brilliantly in the third as a partisan crowd roared him on at a flood-lit Rod Laver Arena.
In a fourth set rivened by tension, Djokovic broke Federer in the eighth game and served out the match to love in 2hr 19 min.
The world No. 1 will bid for a record sixth title at Melbourne Park in the professional era, and will meet the winner of second seed Andy Murray and 13th seed Milos Raonic who play in the second semi-final on Friday.
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