Williams Sisters To Meet In Australian Open Final

Serena Williams and sister Venus will meet in the Australian Open final on Saturday after the duo both won their semi-final clashes on Thursday.

World No 2, Serena dispatched unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in two sets (6-2 6-1) in 50 minutes, while 13th-seeded Venus came from a set down to best American compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe (6-7 [3-7] 6-2 6-3).

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Serena is one win away from a record 23rd Grand Slam title with her sister, Venus, the only person standing in her way. The decorated pair have 29 major singles titles between them.

At 36, the Venue became the oldest woman to reach the Australian Open semifinals.

Saturday will be the ninth occasion that Venus, 36, and Serena, 35, have contested a Grand Slam final, in their near-two decades at the top of the sport.

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The sisters will play each other in a Grand Slam for the 15th time and the ninth in a major final. Serena Williams holds a 6-2 edge in those finals, with her other loss to Venus coming at the 2001 U.S. Open. In all matches between the two, Serena holds a 16-11 advantage and has won the past seven of eight, with Venus’s most recent such win coming in 2014 at Montreal.

“She’s my toughest opponent — nobody has ever beaten me as much as Venus has,” Serena Williams said.

“No matter what happens, we’ve won. A Williams is going to win this tournament.”

Venus Williams has overcome an energy-sapping illness and is playing her best tennis since being diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome in 2011.

The 36-year-old, who has never won the title in Melbourne and is in her first Grand Slam final since 2009.

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“Everyone has their moment in the sun,” she said. “Maybe mine has gone on a while. I’d like to keep that going. I’ve got nothing else to do so let’s keep it going.”

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