Australian Open results and bracket: Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic advance to finals

Whichever of Johanna Konta or Angelique Kerber has the misfortune of facing the American in Saturday night’s final will need a miracle.

Kerber ended Sydney-born British player Johanna Konta’s surprising run with a 7-5, 6-2 semifinal win to reach her first Grand Slam final.

Konta had been hoping to extend Britain’s excellent showing at the first grand slam of the year, with Andy Murray playing Milos Raonic on Friday in the semi-finals of the singles and Jamie Murray making it through to the doubles final alongside Brazilian Bruno Soares.

Again it was Kerber who was out of the blocks fastest in the second set, with the German bagging two breaks of serve as she took control of the match.

Konta, a refreshing newcomer with her positivity both on the court and in the press room over the fortnight, didn’t see the loss as a failure.

Williams, the top seed and defending champion, has yet to lose a set in six matches in Melbourne the past two weeks.

“I’ve always said that when I’m playing at my best, it’s hard to beat me”. “It’s fantastic to play the world number one in first grand slam of year”.

However, as confident as Barker is that the British number one will win Grand Slams, she also believes that Konta may have to wait until the world number one Serena Williams retires to win a Grand Slam. “I was just trying to give everything on court”.

With 12 winners to Zhang’s 6 in the second and final set, Konta took her to break point on 6 different occasions, successfully banking on four. Kerber took a very early march on Azarenka on this occasion however, quickly leading her 4-0 as the Belarussian scrambled back to go narrow the German’s lead to 4-3.

So she’s reaching out to someone who might be able to help – Steffi Graf, who leads Williams by one major title on the all-time list and was the last German to win the Australian Open in 1994.

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.

Serena Williams hitting a backhand during her 6-0, 6-4 win over Agnieszka Radwanska in today’s Australian semifinal. “I can’t even say I thought I be in this final after taking so much time off”.

“She definitely played with that little bit more experience than I did”, Konta said.

Williams remained unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska, whom she beat in the 2012 Wimbledon final. “I think she sent me a text message, but I don’t know what she wrote yet”.

Her goal this year, she said, was to play with more confidence and do better at the events that matter most.

“Now that was my focus, to play better in the bigger one”.

“As it turns out, the disease has given me the kind of opportunity I’ve got today and I’m so thankful for that, ” said Reid, who plays Belgium’s Joachim Gerard on Saturday.