Williams, Kerber in Australian Open final

1 and 3 in the next women’s rankings.

Williams was reluctant to turn her mind to such numbers.

“I will go out there, try to enjoy my first final, try to beat Serena”, she said.

It’s the first time since the Australian Open in December 1977 that that two British players (John Lloyd and Sue Barker) have advanced to the final four of any major.

The 26-year-old, however, reproduced some of the tennis that had made her world number one over the last three weeks in Australia, with many tipping her as a potential victor of the year’s opening grand slam.

But she can now aim to emulate Jo Durie again – by becoming the first British woman to be seeded at Wimbledon since 1984.

The pair has met six times, Kerber’s sole success coming in Cincinnati in 2012. Steffi Graf is the last German champion in Melbourne, winning the last of her four Australian titles in 1994. With Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza both out, fourth-seeded Radwanska was considered the best shot at beating Williams.

As suddenly as they appeared, the nerves seemed to go for the Brit, who found her serve, some potent groundstrokes and a few passing winners to boot to suddenly put a bit more pep into her game, as she held to stay in contention with the German, before breaking back once more to put the match back on level terms.

Serving for the match, Williams served three straight aces, before closing it out with a forehand victor.

With the roof on Rod Laver Arena closed because of a thunderstorm closing in, the most obvious noise in the first set was the chirping of trapped birds who’d taken shelter in the stadium.

Serena Williams of the USA in action against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their semi finals match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 28 January 2016.

Broken twice before she sat down for the first proper interval, Radwanska won just seven points in a first set lasting just 20 minutes. Williams hit 18 winners and Radwanska, in her fifth major semifinal, had one – in the fourth game.

“I think just the perseverance throughout it, I had a lot of opportunities even in that set I lost”, Raonic said of his win over Monfils.

Sensing victory, she made no mistakes to serve for the match and become the first left-hander to make the final since Seles in 1996.

Kerber was ruthless in the second set, building a 4-1 lead as the errors continued to pile up for the Brit. A stray backhand from Konta sealed the set and Kerber’s spot in the final, 6-2.

The crowd at Rod Laver Arena leapt to its feet and roared when the Swiss great coverted for a 4-2 lead.

The German, who is guaranteed to return to the world top five, beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in the last eight and the task facing Konta, ranked 47, was always a big ask.

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.