It’s an all-Williams final
Venus wins a duel with Vandeweghe, then Serena rolls over Lucic-Baroni.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams is one win away from a record 23rd Grand Slam title after setting up an all-Williams final at the Australian Open against her older sister, Venus.
No. 2-ranked Serena Williams, a six-time Australian Open winner, overwhelmed Mirjana LucicBaroni, 6-2, 6-1, in the second women’s semifinal Thursday after Venus Williams beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
“She’s my toughest opponent — nobody has ever beaten me as much as Venus has,” Serena said. “No matter what happens, we’ve won. A Williams is going to win this tournament.”
The 36-year-old Venus Williams is back in a Grand Slam final for the first time since Wimbledon in 2009 and her first in Australia since 2003, when she lost the only previous all-Williams final at Melbourne Park.
Venus tossed her racket after clinching the 2-hour, 26-minute semifinal on her fourth match point and put her hands up to her face, almost in disbelief, before crossing her arms over her heart. She then did a stylish pirouette on the court, smiling broadly, as the crowd gave her a standing ovation.
“Everyone has their moment in the sun,” Venus 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.”
Serena’s celebration was more subdued after her 50minute, one-sided win over 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni, who was playing her first semifinal at a major since Wimbledon in 1999. LucicBaroni took a selfie with her cellphone on the court before waving and leaving Rod Laver Arena.
Serena didn’t get to watch much of her sister’s match, but she knew the result before she went out to play.
“Obviously I was really proud of Venus — a total inspiration, my big sister,” Serena said. “She’s basically my world and my life. She means everything to me. I was so happy for her. For us both to be in the final is the biggest dream come true for us.”
Venus has won seven major titles, but none since Wimbledon in 2008. Her gap between major finals is the longest for any player in the Open era. She has also lost six of the eight Grand Slam finals she has played against her younger sister, and is 11-16 in career meetings.
On the men’s side, there could be a classic showdown in the final, with Roger Federer bidding for an 18th major title, and Rafael Nadal targeting his 15th.
Nadal saved six set points in the second set against one of the best servers in the business Wednesday, beating third-ranked Milos Raonic, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-4.
With that, he earned a spot in the semifinals at a Grand Slam for the first time since winning the French Open in 2014. He’ll next play 25-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, the only player in the last quartet who has yet to turn 30.
Federer and No. 4 Stan Wawrinka will contest an allSwiss semifinal the night before Nadal returns to Rod Laver Arena to play Dimitrov. Having three 30-somethings in the semifinals equals the Open era-mark set in 1968 at Roland Garros.
There were also three 30something women in the semifinals.