Spoils Clijsters’ farewell party to become the first woman from her country to reach Melbourne final, meets Serena in title clash.
MELBOURNE: Maria Sharapova gatecrashed Kim Clijsters’ farewell party at the Australian Open on Thursday to set up a historic final showdown with Serena Williams.
Comeback queen Williams proved she still belonged among the elite and doused the youthful exuberance of Czech 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 6-4 with a ruthless exhibition of power-hitting. Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach the Open final with a 6-4 6-2 victory, thus denying Belgian Clijsters a fairytale run in her last appearance at Melbourne Park.
“I’m going to miss it, it’s been a pleasure to come here. It’s always a lot of fun and I’m sorry I couldn’t come up with a better match today,” Clijsters said with a rueful smile as the fans gave her a standing ovation. “I just came up against a better player,” she added, before leaving the Rod Laver Arena with a final wave.
While Sharapova will be the bookmakers’ favourite for the title, seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams will have the crowd on her side after her stunning passage to Saturday’s showpiece match. The American had entered the tournament ranked 81st in the world but proved she still possessed the appetite for winning big titles by trampling over five seeds during the past fortnight. She needed six match points to kill off the plucky challenge of Vaidisova and greeted her moment of triumph by arching backwards before letting out an almighty roar of relief.
“I’m so excited (about the final)... I have nothing to lose, I’m having a lot of fun. I’m back in the top 20 and that means so much to me,” squealed the 25-year-old American, champion here in 2003 and 2005.
The players also laughed off suggestions that a male supporter in Williams’ entourage had tried to distract Vaidisova with the glare from his watch caused by the reflecting sun. “Ha, ha, ha, ha... that’s the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard,” Williams said. Vaidisova added, “I really didn’t notice that.”
Williams will be aiming to become only the second unseeded woman to win the Australian Open crown in the professional era after Chris O’Neill achieved the feat in 1978. To do that she will have to overcome the mighty challenge of world number one-elect Sharapova as she looks to win the one major trophy that has so far slipped through the grasp of Russian women.
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