Williams beat Li Na 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) while Henin wasted little time beating Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-0.
Serena Williams recorded her 50th career win at Melbourne Park and advanced to her fifth Australian Open final. Henin is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament in two years since ending a 20-month retirement.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad hereLi and Zheng were the first Chinese players to advance to the semifinals of the same Grand Slam.
“Every time I had match points, she came up with some big serves and great shots,” Williams said. “She just goes for broke.”
Serena Williams got some help from her sister for her semifinal win. After Venus Williams lost in the quarterfinals to Li, ending any chance of an all-Williams semifinal, she did all she could to ensure at least one family member would be there.
“She told me how to play her and what to do,” Serena said. “She had chances yesterday and she knew how to play her. It always helps when you have someone who can help you out.”
Williams and Henin stopped the numerous Chinese flags at Rod Laver Arena from being raised too often in jubilation.
“Good for both players,” Li said. “Also good for China tennis. I think if the children, they see this, maybe they will be more confident and think they can do it some day, too.”
Unfortunately for Zheng, it was the most lopsided women’s semifinal at the Australian Open since Chris Evert beat Andrea Jaeger by the same score in 1982.
“It was perfect,” said Henin, who had to beat Olympic gold medalist and No. 5-ranked Elena Dementieva just to get past the second round. “I had enough tennis in the past two weeks so it was good to have a pretty easy match.”
Serena Williams has won the title every time she’s played the final here since beating Venus here in 2003. The winning sequence has been every odd-numbered year so far.
The Williams sisters, the defending champions in doubles, later beat Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the semifinals and will meet No. 1-seeded Cara Black and Liezel Huber in Friday’s final.
Henin is unranked and two tournaments into her comeback, hoping to emulate fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters’ win at the U.S. Open last September.
Clijsters was only three tournaments into a comeback from two years off, and playing on a wild card entry, when she beat both Williams sisters en route to winning the title at New York.
Williams is hoping for better against a Belgian on the comeback this time. Her semifinal loss to Clijsters in New York cost her a record $82,500 fine for a tirade against a line judge who called her for a foot fault.
Serena Williams leads Henin 7-6 in career head-to-heads, although they’ve never met in a Grand Slam final. Williams won their last match, at Miami in 2008, just before Henin retired suddenly while holding the No. 1 ranking.
“It’s such an amazing chance that I have to play another final in Melbourne,” said Henin, who won the 2004 title in Melbourne and lost the 2006 final. “It’s a very special occasion.”
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