It will be a repeat of the 2009 US Open women’s doubles final at Australian Open 2010, as both of the top seeded teams of Cara Black/Liezel Huber and Serena Williams/Venus Williams posted semi-final wins on Thursday.
Top seeds Black and Huber downed the 15th-seeded pair of Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Kirilenko 6-1 1-6 6-3, while the Williams sisters, the second seeds, overcame American Lisa Raymond and Australian Rennae Stubbs 6-3 7-6(6).
Black and Huber are looking to win their third tournament in as many attempts in 2010. In the lead-up to the Australian Open, they took out both the Auckland and Sydney titles earlier in the month.
They barely looked troubled by the pairing of Radwanska and Kirilenko in the first set on Thursday, skipping away to an early lead by breaking serve in the first game of the match.
They then savaged their lower-ranked opponents with sharp net play by Huber and well-placed serving by Black, taking the set in comfortable fashion.
It was a complete reverse of fortune in the second set though as the momentum shifted acutely in favour of Radwanska/Kirilenko. The young singles stars employed the same defensive strategy that saw them overcome a fast-starting Laura Robson/Sally Peers pairing in the previous round, and reaped the same rewards.
The Polish/Russian twosome fought back to take the second set 6-1, but then went down in the decider as the top seeds found their spark again to win it 6-3.
Black and Huber, the world’s highest-ranked women’s doubles team will have to beat the in-form Williams sisters in the final, a tough ask given the sisters have never lost a Grand Slam final and also beat them convincingly in the 2009 US Open final.
The Williams sisters survived a fast-finishing Raymond/Stubbs duo, who forced the No. 2 seeds to a second set tie-break.
The American siblings won the first set as they settled in the gusty conditions quicker than the American/Australian pair. The city end of the court was particularly hard to serve at because of a steady wind, and Stubbs was the first to falter, giving away a break and eventually the first set 6-3.
At one point in the second set, Raymond appeared to have the ball on a string with a series of shots that single-handedly confused and dismantled the Williams’ game, finishing with a volley that split them in two. With Stubbs also playing well, the pair held set points late in the set.
The No.6 seeds failed to convert though, and the Williams sisters won the second set in a tie break 8-6, earning them the right to defend their Melbourne Park 2009 doubles title.
For Serena, it is the second year in a row she has made it through to the singles and doubles final at the Australian Open, and she will use the doubles final to get focused for another tilt at the individual crown.
“I think [doubles] helped me. You know, I get a lot of extra practice, so ... I think I spent a lot of time on the court. I like being out there,” Serena said.
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