Serena Williams advances to Australian Open final

“It’s awesome. It’s really cool”, she said.

Konta made 36 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11 in her straight-sets defeat but Barker believes that her rivals will be better prepared in the future.

It’s the first time since the Australian Open in December 1977 that two British players (John Lloyd and Sue Barker) have advanced to the final four in the same major. “I was just standing there kind of watching her play”, the Polish player said later.

Seventh seed Angelique Kerber on Thursday ended Johanna Konta’s dream run at the Australian Open, winning 7-5, 6-2 against the unseeded Briton to book a spot in the tennis singles final against top seed Serena Williams.

“I think when you ask a lot of people, I think most will say, OK, Serena will win”, she said. “I came up with the right intensity, great concentration”. I haven’t played any lefties yet. “I’m proud of this”.

The 34-year-old Williams now takes her second shot at a 22nd Grand Slam title, a mark that would tie her with Steffi Graf on the list of all-time titles in the Open era. Serena Williams was just being her dominant self.

“I’ll be going out there to win the match, to be aggressive, take my first chances I can get”. “I get stressed out like every other person”.

“I will just go back, keep working hard, keep improving the things that I want to improve and keep enjoying what I’m doing”.

It’s been a familiar feeling among the players Williams has brushed aside on the way to the final, her seventh at Melbourne Park.

“She was my idol. She still is my idol”, Kerber said in her pre-match press conference.

“Her being a lefty definitely helps out as well. It definitely won’t be easy”.

However, she is the first to admit she still has a fair way to go if she is to match it with the world No. 1. That status appeared justified when Kerber matched Williams’ effort from earlier in the day by breaking the Australian-born Englishwoman twice in the first three games of the match.

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.

Williams, who had never lost a semi-final at Melbourne Park broke Radwanska’s service to open the match and was rarely troubled in the 21-minute first set. However, despite sunny skies overhead, large droplets landed on the court late in the set.

Her reward is a clash with Johanna Konta, the first British woman to qualify for a Grand Slam semi-final for 33 years. For the first set, Williams gave her no options.

The second set was significantly closer.

Williams played an insanely quick first set, needing only 20 minutes to hand Radwanska the bagel. If she uses her inherent all court wizardry and mixes it up enough, she could pull a ‘Roberta Vinci’ and equal her career high of number 2 set back in 2012. Three aces provided a solid cushion.