World number one Serena Williams has regained her mojo and will claim her sixth Australian Open, and 19th Grand Slam, against Maria Sharapova on Saturday.
Right through the Hopman Cup and six rounds of the Australian Open, there have been only spasmodic glimpses of the real Williams.
On a normal day nobody can live with the powerhouse 33-year-old, as Sharapova will revisit. Williams leads the Russian 16-2 head-to-head, having won their last 15 encounters.
In that period, Williams has won 30 sets, Sharapova just three. The last time Sharapova lowered Williams’ colours was 11 years ago, in the final of the WTA Championship, and that’s a long time between drinks.
Williams can thank 19-year-old American Madison Keys for shaking her out of the doldrums.
Keys is an awesome talent, and despite a heavily bandaged left thigh that has troubled her throughout the tournament, Keys played such fabulous tennis in the first set of their semi-final clash, Williams had to raise the bar considerably.
The tie-breaker went Williams’ way in 45 action-packed minutes, but the success was not without one helluva battle. Keys struck 16 winners to 10, but her unforced error count of 18-9 kept Williams in touch.
In the end, Williams scored 40 points to 38 in the set and raced to a 5-1 lead in the second. That set up the best tennis of the semi, thanks to Keys’ never-say-die spirit.
Williams had seven match points, but Keys either cut loose with a couple of aces or ferocious forehands down the line that even drew applause from Williams. Keys’ spirited service game lasted more than 10 minutes.
Keys eventually won that game against all odds, and saved two more match points on Williams’ serve, but the inevitable had to happen and Williams ran out a 7-6, 6-2 winner in 84 minutes.
Williams was full of praise in the after-match interview for her 14-year younger opponent, predicting big things sooner than later. What a handful they will be together next week representing the USA in the Fed Cup.
In the other semi, Sharapova blitzed Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-2 in 87 minutes, despite the fact that Sharapova’s serve went missing. Rarely does she serve only three aces in a match.
But Sharapova cracked 23 winners to 11, while Makarova couldn’t make any inroads by making 29 unforced errors to 26. Sharapova’s total dominance was underlined by winning 70 points overall to Makarova’s 43.
Makarova’s no Williams, so it’s hard to see Maria Sharapova lifting her game to push Serena Williams, now that the American’s mojo is back.
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