Williams sisters face off in Australian Open final

The only person standing between Serena Williams and tennis history is her sister.

The second-seeded American will face 13th-seeded Venus Williams for the Australian Open title after both won semifinal matches Thursday in Melbourne.

Serena Williams will be looking for her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, which would break Steffi Graf’s Open Era record. Venus Williams is aiming for her eighth major title, though she is in a Grand Slam final for the first time in more than seven years.

Venus Williams knocked off unseeded American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday before Serena Williams crushed unseeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 6-2, 6-1.

Looking ahead to the final, Serena Williams said of her sister, “She’s my toughest opponent. No one has ever beaten me as much as Venus has. I just feel like, no matter what happens, we’ve won because she’s been through a lot, I’ve been through a lot. To see her come back and do so well, it’s great. I look forward to it.

“A Williams is going to win this tournament.”

Serena Williams, 35, added about Venus Williams, 36, “She’s basically my world and my life. She means everything to me. I was so happy for her. I just couldn’t be happier for the result, and for us both to be in the final is the biggest dream come true for us.”

Before her younger sister’s match, Venus Williams said, “It’s an unbelievable thing to watch Serena Williams play tennis. That girl can hit the ball; she is such a competitor.”

The Williams sisters have met in eight Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning six.

The most recent title showdown between the sisters also marked Venus Williams’ last Grand Slam final before this week — at Wimbledon in 2009, when Serena Williams posted a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory.

Venus Williams’ last major title came at Wimbledon in 2008, when she beat her sister 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Her last Australian Open final was in 2003, when she lost to Serena.

Venus Williams and Vandeweghe broke serve once in the opening set, but Williams converted on her lone break point while Vandeweghe was 1 of 4 on her break opportunities. In the tiebreaker, Vandeweghe won four consecutive points to go up 6-2. Williams saved the first set point but committed a backhand error on the second.

Vandeweghe held serve to open the second set before Williams reeled off five games in a row. Williams finished the set with an ace.

Williams broke serve to open the third set. Vandeweghe had two break points in the next game, but Williams staved them off to open a 2-0 lead.

Vandeweghe saved three match points at 3-5, but an unforced forehand error ended the contest.

On the struggle to close out the win, Venus Williams said, “(I was thinking), ‘Oh my god, Venus, it’s match point, you’re supposed to win this.’ I don’t even know what happened on the last one. It’s just, ‘Oh my!’

“Everyone has their moment in the sun. Mine has gone on a long time. I’d like to keep it going. I have nothing else to do.”

Vandeweghe, 25, advanced further than she ever had in 24 previous major events. Her best Grand Slam result before this fortnight was a trip to the 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinals, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

Venus Williams said of Vandeweghe, “Oh my gosh, (the win) means so much, mostly because she played so well. She played so unbelievably. I had to play defense the whole time. There was never a moment of relaxation the whole time. To be able to get to a final like this, I’m excited, and I’m excited about American tennis as well.”

Serena Williams closed out Lucic-Baroni in a mere 50 minutes. Williams broke serve five times and never faced a break point.

Lucic-Baroni was in a Grand Slam final for the first time since 1999 Wimbledon. A teenage prodigy, her career stalled due to personal difficulties, including physical and mental abuse from her father.

“Honestly, she’s an inspiration,” Serena Williams said after her win. “She really deserves all the credit today. I am so honored to play her, and she really played so hard to get this far. Everything she’s gone through. She inspires me. I just really wanted to give her such congratulations.”

Following two rough matches with her serve, Serena Williams got back on track Thursday.

“Serve was a little better today. I still want it to be a little bit better, but I am getting there hopefully,” she said. “I know I had to come out and serve well because I know Mirjana has a great serve, and I had to take my chances as early as I could.