Tennis, Australian Open: Williams Clicks Back Into Gear

When Serena and Venus Williams first arrived on the tennis scene it was them against the world, and the world was quickly in retreat. Their success was extraordinary, and between the US Open of 1999 and the 2003 Wimbledon tournament, they won 10 out of 16 slams between them, playing six all-Williams finals in the process.

The big question that always hovered over both their heads was how long it would be before their fame, fortune, and diversity of outside interests affected their tennis careers to such a degree as to be detrimental. By the beginning of last year, it seemed their commitment was on the wane.

This may still hold true of Venus, the elder of the two, who in her last five slams, including here, has only once progressed beyond the last 16, and never further than a quarter-final. Serena has always had the more competitive edge to her nature, and is the better player, although she arrived here with her own stock having decreased.

Perhaps the old siege mentality clicked in. After her quarter-final victory over France's Amélie Mauresmo she bridled at any suggestion that the family was in decline, declaring that she did not have to win the title here to prove anything to anybody.

Those who may have wondered whether these were simply fine words were put well and truly in their places yesterday. In an extraordinarily brutal semi-final, lasting a gruelling two hours 39 minutes, she defeated Maria Sharapova, the 17-year-old Russian who beat her in last year's Wimbledon final, and again in the final of the WTA Tour championships.

As a statement of intent to those who had suspected that tennis was no longer a major motivation in her life, Williams's 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 victory, during which the American saved three match points, could not have been plainer. "This is what I love to do. I love nothing more than walking out there and hearing my name being announced. I wouldn't give it up right now for anything."

So tomorrow she will play in her ninth slam final, looking for her seventh title. Only her sister, Venus (in the 2001 US Open final) and Sharapova have ever stopped her, and despite the huge exertion it took to beat the young Russian it seems unlikely that fellow American Lindsay Davenport will deny her this time.

Davenport had a big enough struggle putting away France's surprise semi-finalist Nathalie Dechy ('Decky' as some Australians pronounce her name as if she were a ship's hand), and has lost nine of her previous 13 matches against Williams. Not that Davenport, who won the title five years ago against Switzerland's Martina Hingis, should be totally written off.

There has been talk of Hingis, a three-times Australian Open champion from 1997-99, making a comeback. She is still only 24, but would be well advised to get a tape of the Williams-Sharapova semi-final before making any decision. For all her many attributes, the diminutive Hingis would not be able to cope with such ferocity unless she has grown six inches since retiring in 2002.

Sharapova was unable to hold back her tears as she came off the Rod Laver Arena having been one forehand away in the second set from her first Australian Open final. "I gave it all that I had. I played from my heart, but if you don't take your chances you lose."

Both women were running on empty in the final set, but Williams was the better at disguising her fatigue. Sharapova visibly wilted, discarded her grunt, and sat on her chair pulling a towel around her shoulders like an old woman with a shawl. "It was a tough one to lose," she said, "but I've got a long way ahead of me."