Best set I’ve ever faced, says chastened Radwanska

Serena Williams is one win away from a record-equalling 22nd grand slam title after the top seed blew away Agnieszka Radwanska in the Australian Open semi-final.

Radwanska had been bidding to advance to her second grand slam final, after Wimbledon 2012, but once Williams broke in the first game the writing appeared to be on the wall.

Serena Williams, left, of the United States is congratulated by Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland after winning their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016.

“I would say this is probably the best Slam I’ve played in a year, and I’ve won a lot in a year”, Serena said.

“I think so”, said Radwanska, when asked if the first set was the best she had faced.

It was the worst possible opening for Radwanska, with Williams, the oldest world number one in WTA history, breaking and then using her huge power advantage to easily hold serve, racing 2-0 clear with a smash at the net. “Steffi, write me please”, she laughed and said.

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. The high-flying American only lost 13 points on serve as she earned a 10th last-eight appearance in Melbourne.

Contesting her third slam semi-final, Kerber finally advanced to a major decider after ending Konta’s fairytale run at the Australian Open.

Sharapova broke to open the match and had a 2-0 lead.

Her 6-3 7-5 loss on Wednesday, however, could be put down to “a bad day at the office” as she said, though it was more due to two periods of extreme hitting by the seventh-seeded German. Her powerful forehand proved to be a telling weapon against the Romanian, who failed to cope with Kerber’s ferocity around the court.

She has dropped just 26 games in six matches, a number she has bettered just four times at the Grand Slams in her career. But her 36 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11 made the difference.

An epic seventh game, including the first deuce of the match, allowed her to hold serve, but an easy Williams hold was followed by another lapse from Radwanska who was broken again.

Kerber got off to a strong start this year, reaching the final in Brisbane where she lost to Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion. However, she hasn’t given up hope yet and reveals that Williams is infact “inspiring”.

“I thought [this] was going to be a really rough part [of the season]”, she added. Roberta Vinci stunned her in the U.S. Open semis to stop a season slam.

Victory against Kerber would draw Williams level with Graf’s Open-era best 22 major titles while taking her own tally of Melbourne triumphs to five. I feel great. I didn’t think I would do so well so fast.

“For sure when I was growing up, I was watching Steffi ….she taught me actually that I’m on a good way and try to believe in myself”, Kerber said.

Both players struggled with their ball toss at one end, repeatedly practicing their toss to work out the best position to serve into the sun.