World No 1 Serena Williams extended her winning streak over Maria Sharapova to 14 matches with a 6-2, 7-6 victory in the semi-finals at Brisbane yesterday.
In a match which involved poor serving and high-quality ground strokes in equal measure, Williams maintained her hold over fourth-ranked Sharapova to set up a final showdown with world No 2 Victoria Azarenka.
Roger Federer, who like Williams will be chasing an 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open later this month, breezed through in the men’s semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 thumping of the Australian Marinko Matosevic.
Williams and Sharapova played down their animosity before the match, but there was no eye contact during preliminaries, and on a steamy night in Brisbane, their body language remained distinctly frosty.
The result was a match with an intensity scarcely seen outside of a grand slam, something Williams felt was of great benefit.
“I feel like I’m being pushed into the deep end straightaway,” she said. “I think it’s a good thing.
“In Melbourne, if I have to face Maria again, I’ll know a little bit more what to expect. I really didn’t know what to expect today.”
Azarenka secured her place in the final with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic.
Williams said the match will be a good barometer of where they are ahead of the first grand slam.
“I think it’ll be a really good match to see where we both stand as the two most consistent players of the last year and a half,” Williams said. Azarenka won the Australian Open last year.
Federer is unlikely to learn much about where his game stands in a semi-final match with Jeremy Chardy, ranked No 45 in the world. The other semi-final pits Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and the No 2-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Meanwhile, China's Li Na and compatriot Peng Shuai advanced at the Shenzhen Open to set up an all-Chinese final.
The top-seeded Li swept aside Germany’s Annika Beck 6-1, 6-3, and Peng advanced easily after a walkover over the American Vania King, who withdrew with a thigh injury.
Ana Ivanovic will meet Venus Williams in a battle of former world No 1s in the Auckland Classic. Ivanovic defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 7-6 in the semi-finals, while Williams won by walkover when Jamie Hampton was unable to play.
In Perth, France set up a Hopman Cup final with Poland after Alize Cornet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat the defending champions Spain 3-0 in the mixed-teams event.
France, who lost their earlier finals in 1998 and 2012, will want it to be third-time lucky as they face the top-seeded Polish duo of Agnieszka Radwanska and Grzegorz Panfil in the title match.
Needing a victory in their last group match, Cornet overcame a hamstring problem to trounce Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-2, before Tsonga defeated Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.
