Serena Williams through to Australian Open semis

Reigning champion Serena Williams ramped up the power in the second set to vanquish fifth seed Maria Sharapova for the 18th match in a row and reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-1 victory on Tuesday.

Four-time champion Federer capped the afternoon session with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Tomas Berdych, reaching his 12th Australian Open semifinal and his 39th in a Grand Slam.

If Serena’s dominance over Radwanska continues – and Williams has never lost in an Australian Open semifinal – her most likely championship final would be against Victoria Azarenka, who is – brace yourself!

Serena Williams plays a forehand return during her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open quarterfinals Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia.

This was Williams and Sharapova’s 21 meeting across all competitions and the former’s 19 win over the latter. It’s motivating because she’s at a different level and she makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me but for many other players. “Hopefully I can play my best tennis or I’ll be in trouble”, said the popular 26-year-old, who is on a 13-match win streak.

Radwanska’s first-serve percentage of 79 for the set compared to just 54 per cent for her opponent, while Suarez Navarro made 18 unforced errors in a poor display.

She held off two break points at 4-all, then served out the set.

There was a feeling – different than usual – that maybe this was the time Sharapova could do it. She changed up her service return, trying to deflate the greatest weapon in tennis by playing like a soccer goalie in a shootout and guessing which way Serena would go. She doesn’t give you many angles. “So I think it will be a long match, and it will be a good match to see where I am”.

“I know Aga really well”.

“I have nothing to lose and it does not matter who I play”.

“I have been playing this whole week aggressively, but it did not start out that way in the first set”, Williams said.

“I play better, when I’m forced to play better, I don’t know, I do well”.

When the draw came out before the tournament, everyone wondered if No. 5 Maria Sharapova would land in No. 1 Serena Williams’s quarter due to her rankings drop.

“But I was saying before, this is new season, new Grand Slam; you’re starting over again”.

“Everything from here on out, every match, is a bonus for me”. Third-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

“It’s obviously always frustrating”, Sharapova said.

“You have to play the right way, it’s normal that you’ll be passed at the net, it’s fine, as long as it’s me who attacks, it’s me who manages the game, if you want”.

Williams, who appears to be over the knee problem that disrupted her tournament preparations, said she had felt “a little lethargic” at the start of the match.

She beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and will face Williams next.

In men’s doubles action, Canadian Vasek Pospisil and American partner Jack Sock lost their quarter-final match to Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in three sets.