Serena powers past Vaidisova into final

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams continued her astonishing comeback by powering past Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 6-4 to reach the Australian Open final for the third time on Thursday.   

The unseeded American, Melbourne Park champion in 2003 and 2005, edged a first set tiebreak and thwarted a late fightback from the 10th seed to win through in an hour and 46 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.   

"She played some incredible points on match point, she reminded me a bit of myself," Williams said after the Czech had saved five match points.   

"I just tried to stay focused and calm. It was great. I'm excited about the final I have nothing to lose, I'm having a lot of fun. I'm back in the top twenty and that means so much," She added.

Williams, the former world number one who stands at 81st in the rankings after a 2006 season blighted by injury, made a slow start on her first grand slam semi-final appearance since she won at Melbourne Park two years ago.   

Vaidisova, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, won Williams's opening service game with a crunching forehand winner and confidently held her own serve for a 2-0 lead.   

But Williams soon found the pace and aggression that had seen off four seeds this week, and a nervy double fault from Vaidisova helped her level at 3-3.