Serena eases past Baroni to set up all-Williams final in Melbourne

Serena Williams set up an Australian Open final against sister Venus with a thrashing of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Thursday.

World number two Serena is just a win away from grand slam number 23 after easing past Lucic-Baroni 6-2 6-1 in their semi-final.

The American needed just 50 minutes to win through on Rod Laver Arena as her Croatian opponent faltered.

The unseeded Lucic-Baroni, in her second major semi-final but first since 1999, created her own problems, with her forehand particularly wayward.

Serena did what she had to, advancing to a 29th grand slam decider and ninth against Venus.

Of their eight previous meetings in major finals, Serena has won six – including their last encounter at Wimbledon in 2009.

Serena, a six-time champion in Melbourne, is one win away from surpassing Steffi Graf for the most major titles in the Open Era.

Her place in the decider never looked in doubt against Lucic-Baroni, a player she beat in their only two previous matches in 1998.

Lucic-Baroni tried to attack as she has throughout the year’s first major, but her mistakes cost her.

Serena broke twice in the first set and lost just five points on serve to take complete control.

A clean forehand return winner put her 2-1 ahead in the second set before a Lucic-Baroni double fault handed her a 4-1 lead she would not relinquish.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN

Williams [2] bt Lucic-Baroni 6-2 6-1

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Williams – 14/10
Lucic-Baroni – 10/23

ACES
Williams – 3
Lucic-Baroni – 3

BREAK POINTS WON
Williams – 5/6
Lucic-Baroni – 0/0

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Williams – 68
Lucic-Baroni – 59

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Williams – 92/33
Lucic-Baroni – 67/14

TOTAL POINTS
Williams – 56
Lucic-Baroni – 33