Play under way on Day 11 of Australian Open

The 45th meeting between two of the sport’s greatest champions was another classic encounter and Djokovic produced one of his finest ever performances in a 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 win in Melbourne.

But the Polish fourth-seed barely managed to flounder, overwhelmed in the face of Williams’ power game, and succumbed 6-0 6-4 in an hour and four minutes. 1 and 3 in the next women’s rankings.

Williams also will be gunning to tie Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam titles (22) in the Open era.

For Federer, the signs were ominous from the beginning. Djokovic, now into his sixth Australian final – he’s won all five previous – held his first service game at love and broke Federer in the second.

Williams struck 14 winners and made a mere four unforced errors in 20 minutes. Radwanska had played a much more competitive set, but still finished with a 42-to-4 deficit in total winners.

The dominant top seed was untouchable in overpowering the Pole 6-0, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to set up a decider against either Kerber or unseeded Konta.

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The American held and then won seven points in a row, including three consecutive aces, to open up a triple match point.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to playing Serena in the final”, Kerber said. “I came up with the right intensity, great concentration”.

Federer said he wasn’t surprised by Djokovic’s early blitz.

But the popular 26-year-old, who rarely shows emotion on court, added: “Hopefully I can play my best tennis or I ll be in trouble”. He’ll find out who his final opponent will be after Andy Murray takes on Milos Raonic on Friday.

Both men shared 22 wins apiece ahead of this latest showdown, but Djokovic seemed a class above his long-term rival while storming into a two-set lead in just 54 minutes. “I mean, I never thought I was going to go out and lose in the first round, but at the same time, I never thought before, ‘I’m going to make it to the final, or anything.’ I was just playing literally a point at a time”. For the first time in her career, Williams reached the final of the Australian Open without losing a set. She goes on court and she just wants to kill it. Going like full power for everything.

“I definitely block it out”, Williams said in reply to a question about equaling Graf’s mark. “If I don’t win on Saturday, I’ll still be one off”.

After coming within two matches of becoming the first player since Graf in 1988 to achieve the calendar-year grand slam in September, Williams decided not to play again in 2015. “She’s beaten me before, too, and pretty good”, Serena said.

She will play Briton Johanna Konta or German Angelique Kerber in the final.

Williams’ win over fourth-seeded Radwanska provided another yet reminder of her dominance in the women’s game.

It was a different story at the majors last season when Williams came out flat and fell behind at the start of many matches before staging late, dramatic comebacks.

Williams hasn’t played a left-hander so far this tournament and said that, combined with Kerber’s quarterfinal win over two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, were making her wary.

“She s been playing really well towards the end of the year, and already this year she s been very consistent”.

“You can’t underestimate Kerber”.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – When Serena Williams plays as well as she did in the semifinals of the Australian Open, there’s little an opponent can do to challenge her. Even one who’s soon to be ranked No. 3 in the world, just two places behind her.

Williams remains unbeaten in nine matches against Radwanska, whom she beat in the 2012 Wimbledon final. “Just said to myself, ‘I need to figure something out, ‘ and I started playing aggressive like I had all week”.

“I’m really excited to be in another final, it kind of blows my mind right now”, said 34-year-old Williams.