Tennis:Serena Williams will play Maria Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open on Saturday. The two-time former champion booked her place with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 victory over Nicole Vaidisova today, while Sharapova was a straight-sets winner over Kim Clijsters.
Williams, who is unseeded in Melbourne after her ranking slipped following injury, survived a set point at 4-5 in the first set before Vaidisova drilled a loose forehand into the net to hand the American the tie-break after a poor start to the match on the Rod Laver Arena.
Vaidisova fought back from 1-5 in the tie-beak to level but was eventually made to pay for 18 unforced errors in the set.
Williams stormed into a 5-1 lead in the second but Vaidisova surged back to 5-3 before surviving four match points to further reduce the deficit, winning her third straight game.
But the American sealed her place in the final in one hour and 46 minutes as 29 errors from Vaidisova proved too costly in the end for the number 10 seed.
In the second semi, Sharapova beat Clijsters 6-4 6-2, ending the Belgian's hopes of a dream finish to her Australian Open career.
The defeat will instead prove to be her last match at Melbourne Park, as she is to retire at the end of the season.
Clijsters, the runner-up in Melbourne in 2004, actually made the better start, racing into a 3-1 lead but errors began to creep into her game and she lost five of the next six games to fall a set down.
Top seed Sharapova continued her dominance with an early break in the second set which was to prove decisive.
Clijsters forced seven break points on the Russian's serve in the second set - Sharapova would later admit that aspect of her game needed work - but could not convert any of them.
And so the Russian duly served out to complete victory in an hour and 23 minutes to book her place in her first Australian Open final.
Saturday's title decider will be a repeat of the 2004 Wimbledon final which the Russian won to burst on to the world scene.