It's Serena vs Venus in all-Williams Australian Open final

Melbourne [Australia], Jan.26 (ANI):World number two Serena Williams will meet her elder sister Venus in the finals of the season-opening Australian Open after the American duo came through their last-four contest at the Melbourne Park here on Thursday. Serena, who is bidding to clinch her seventh Australian Open title, produced a rich vein of form as she fended off unseeded Croatian opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2,6-1 in a one-sided clash that lasted just 50 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. Venus, on the other hand, survived an earlier scare against fellow American Coco Vandeweghe to reach her first major final since 2009. After losing the first set by a whisker, Venus rebounded strongly to register a 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Vandeweghe in a semi-final match that lasted two hours and 25 minutes. Serena is aiming to surpass German Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles by clinching victory in the first major of the season, while Venus is looking to win an eighth major title and maiden in Melbourne. The Williams sisters have played 27 times, including 14 times in Grand Slams. Serena leads their rivalry 16-11, including 6-2 in Major finals and seven of their last eight meetings.(ANI)