Williams takes 1st set 6-0 in Aussie semifinals

A key difference between the defending champions is that Williams beat the most-experienced and highest-ranked challenger in her half of the draw when she extended her streak to 18 consecutive wins against Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal victory on Tuesday.

Serena Williams is one win away from another Grand Slam milestone after beating Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-4 in an Australian Open semifinal that was nearly a noncontest between the players who will be Nos.

Williams started to miss a few and Radwanska started to compete, breaking the top seed to level at 3-3 and then drawing the biggest applause of the match when she pulled her opponent in with a drop shot then pushed away the victor with a neat backhand volley.

“I feel I am playing the best I can – I can’t believe I am through to the final after taking so much time off”, she said. “That’s not what you expect”.

“I’m not even angry because I know she was just playing too good today”.

Her performance was so complete, 18-time major victor Chris Evert asked her fellow TV commentators on ESPN, “How can you say she’s not the greatest of all time when she plays like this?”

It marked the first time a German has reached the final at Melbourne Park since Anke Huber in 1996, but Kerber faces a monumental task with the American powerhouse across the net in Saturday’s decider.

Kerber and Konta play later Thursday, with whoever wins facing a huge obstacle to be crowned champion.

“She goes on court and she just want to kill it. Going full power for everything”.

Williams has gone on to win the year’s first grand slam every time she has reached at least the final four. Radwanska advanced earlier in the day with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro, thereby becoming the first Polish woman to advance to the Australian Open final four.

“I don’t think anyone can really play on that level”.

Looking forward, Radwanska will regroup and a strong season should to be expected from the 26-year old, with Wimbledon’s grass perhaps her best chance at making her first Grand Slam final.

“I think it s good, especially that I did semi-finals here and I won the tournament (Shenzhen) before”, she said of her form.

‘She (Kerber) took out a really tough opponent in Victoria (Azarenka).

“I’m excited to be in another final”. “She was really explosive off the return”. Ripping return winners, Williams quickly broke Radwanska to start the match.

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.

The American, who came into the tournament after a four-month layoff, twice had treatment for “food poisoning issues” during breaks in the 92-minute rematch of last year’s final.

Williams is the red-hot favourite to defeat Kerber but, despite not losing a set in her first six matches, insisted she wasn’t unstoppable and that underestimating the German would be a big mistake.