The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, will go toe-to-toe in Saturday’s final for the first Grand Slam of the year.
Venus dropped a set for the first time at this year’s tournament but beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-7 6-2 6-3, while sister, Serena, was ruthless in her demolition of Lucic-Baroni 6-2 6-1.
The final will be the oldest in women’s tennis history – at a combined age of 71, while Venus becomes the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.
The first final between the pair in Australia occurred in 2003; but it will be the first time the pair will be meeting in a Grand Slam final since 2009.
Serena (35) is the overwhelming odds-on to win the final, as she boasts a 16-11 head-to-head record against her elder sister and has lost only once in their last eight meetings.
At the semi-final post-match conference, Serena said Lucic-Baroni inspires her with what she achieved in 2017 after the two met in 1998 as teenagers. Serena believes that whichever sister wins on Saturday, they have won because of what both have gone through in their careers.
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