Serena Williams has reached the Australian Open 2010 women’s final by defeating Li Na 7-6, 7-6 in a tense semi-final.
Despite needing two tie-breakers to win through, Williams was the more comfortable of the two players throughout this match, suffering none of the nervy moments of her quarter final.
Williams’ Chinese opponent was dogged, however, and saved set points, and four match points, to take each set to a tie-breaker, before being overpowered in each of the races to seven points by the big serving American.
Williams will face Justine Henin in the final, after the Belgian made light work of her Chinese opponent Zheng Jie, dropping just one game on the way to the final.
A gripping final looks to be on the cards: Henin is resurgent and looking as good as ever, whereas Williams has lost none of her power and drive, and, importantly, does not know when she is beaten. The number one seed is no certainty to retain her crown, but it will take some effort to wrestle it away from Serena.