Williams, Sharapova set for Open final

Maria Sharapova insists she is confident, but the Russian’s lopsided record against Serena Williams suggests it is misplaced.

Sharapova will meet Williams in the Australian Open final on Saturday night, with the powerful American favoured to bank a 19th grand slam title.

Williams’ form over the past fortnight has been impressive, while she has only lost twice in 18 clashes with Sharapova on the WTA tour.

Sharapova’s only wins over world No.1 Williams came in 2004 at Wimbledon and the season-ending WTA Championships.

The second seed will need to snap an 11-year, 15-match losing streak to stop her career-long nemesis from staking her latest claim as the greatest-ever women’s player.

Sharapova is far from daunted.

“I think my confidence should be pretty high going into a final of a grand slam, no matter who I’m facing,” she said.

“Whether I’ve had a terrible record, to say the least, against someone – it doesn’t matter.

“I got there for a reason. I belong in that spot. I will do everything I can to get the title.”

Sharapova feels on song after extending her 2015 unbeaten run to 10 matches in Melbourne.

“It’s tough knowing that she has such a powerful game and I’ve had trouble against her,” the 27-year-old said.

The oldest women’s finalist of the open era and already the owner of a record five singles titles at Melbourne Park, 33-year-old Williams can break further ground on Saturday night.

In the first title match in more than a decade featuring the world’s top two players, Williams can surpass legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert as America’s most successful grand slam champion with a 19th career major.

Such a feat would edge Williams to within three titles of Steffi Graf’s open-era benchmark 22 majors and to just five shy of Australian Margaret Smith Court on the all-time grand slam leaderboard.

“I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity to get to 19 this fast,” Williams said.

Williams has battled a nasty head cold all campaign and had to to split her practice sessions on Friday to “take a nap and rejuvenate”.

But Williams downplayed any concerns she wouldn’t be physically up for the fight.

“It went well this afternoon, I felt better,” the top seed said of her second session.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!