By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Serena Williams beat Aga Radwanska to reach her seventh Australian Open final as she goes in search of her 22nd Grand Slam singles title.
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Once again, it was all about Serena Williams in an Australian Open semifinal.
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Williams advanced in her seventh Australian Open semifinal with a straight sets win over No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. But Williams herself is surprised that she’s even in the final.
“I’m really excited to be in the final. I can’t even say I would have been in the final after taking so much time off. I was working hard but either way I’ll be excited,” Williams told ESPN’s Pam Shriver.
Now, Williams finds herself a win away from her 22nd Grand Slam title - a feat that would tie her with Steffi Graf in second place for the most ever major singles titles won by a woman.
With Radwanska having never beaten Williams in eight previous attempts, fans wondered what the Polish star could do to turn things her way. For the first set, Williams gave her no options.
Williams came out dominating Radwanska’s serve in the opening game. Ripping return winners, Williams quickly broke Radwanska to start the match.
The first set quickly went by in a blur. Radwanska, feeling the pressure of Williams’ returns, double faulted when facing another break point. Williams moved forward at every opportunity and often ended points with an emphatic smash.
With a powerful forehand winner, Williams soon had the first set in her favor 6-0 in just 20 minutes.
A subdued Rod Laver Arena crowd hoped that Radwanska would at least make it competitive in the second set. They cheered when she finally held her serve to open the second set.
Radwanska had to hope Williams’ level would drop so she could get into some of the points. She got her wish. As Williams started hitting a few more errors, Radwanska was able to lengthen some of the rallies. Yet Radwanska didn’t help her cause by going for too much on some shots causing errors herself.
With a volley winner, Williams broke Radwanska again for 2-1.
Williams would not run away with the set however. Radwanska hung on to her serve a few games later and stayed in touch with Williams for 3-2. Radwanska then made her move to level the set. Capitalizing on more Williams’ errors, Radwanska broke serve for 3-all.
Williams’ struggles to replicate her earlier dominate form continued. With Radwanska hitting deeper in the court now, it was up to Williams to find winners elsewhere. That came from her trusted serve as she served a fourth ace to bring the set to 4-all.
Radwanska looked on the verge of holding serve again, but Williams then put the momentum back on her side.
The World No. 1 ripped a crosscourt backhand return winner that just caught the line sending the game to deuce. Williams once again moved forward to finish the next point with a smash winner giving her a break point. Radwanska, in an attempt to do the same, sprayed a forehand long. Serena now had the break again for 5-4.
Williams then put on a serving masterclass in the last game. With several big serves, she quickly found herself at 40-0. On match point, Williams ripped a final forehand winner to seal the 6-0, 6-4 victory.
Williams hit 42 winners and 17 unforced errors to just four winners and seven unforced errors from Radwanska.
“I really wanted to focus on starting fast,” Williams told ESPN’s Pam Shriver. “And Aggie is number four in the reason. She started playing really well and brought up her level and I had to bring up my level in the later part of the match.”
Williams later told the crowd how excited she was to be back in yet another Australian Open final.
Williams awaits the winner of the second semifinal between Angelique Kerber and Johanna Konta.