Serena Williams said she was lucky to
progress as she overcame Maria Sharapova
in the Brisbane International semi-finals.
Sharapova missed a large part of the 2013
season due to injury but the American world
number one said the Russian's supposed
rustiness was not noticeable during her 6-2
7-6 (9-7) victory.
Williams will face Victoria Azarenka in the
final on Saturday, hoping to have improved
her first-serve percentage after an erratic
showing on Friday.
"Yes it definitely could've gone either way,
Maria (Sharapova) was playing really well –
it's a wonder that she took some time off,"
Williams said.
"But you definitely can't tell, she gave me a
really tough tie-break and a really tough
match today.
"My serve was off today – on yesterday, off
today, on tomorrow I hope.
"I couldn't get a serve in and I was getting
really frustrated and I thought 'gosh, life
would be easier if I could just stop hitting
double-faults and start making some
serves'."
Serena's sister Venus is also in a final after
progressing to meet Ana Ivanovic in the ASB
Classic decider in New Zealand, and the
younger sibling was ecstatic with the way
the year has begun.
"It's great, I'm excited to be in the final,"
she said.
"My sister (Venus Williams) is also in a final
so we're both really pumped and 2014 has
started out great – win, lose or draw I'm
here to stay."
Opera sports reported
