Serena Williams produced the fightback of her life to set up a fourth consecutive Grand Slam final with big sister Venus in the Australian Open today.
World number one Serena fought back from 5-1 down in the third set of her semi-final against Belgian fourth seed Kim Clijsters to clinch a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 as Venus swept aside Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-3, 6-3.
In the men's tournament, second seed and favourite Andre Agassi blitzed Wayne Ferreira in just 88 minutes to win 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 and will now play either fellow American Andy Roddick or Germany's Rainer Schuettler in the final.
Agassi's whirlwind destruction of unseeded South African Ferreira on the Rod Laver Arena could not have been more different than the see-saw last-four between Williams and Clijsters.
Clijsters had two match points on serve with the score at 5-2 in the decider but was unable to take either of them as the top seed produced a fabulous return and an instinctive volley to hang on and then break.
Clijsters, the girlfriend of Australian world number one Lleyton Hewitt, had another opportunity to serve for the match in the 10th game, but fumbled, committing two double faults as Williams scored a break.
Williams held and then broke serve, producing a string of winners to reach her fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and her first appearance in the Australian Open final.
She is now firmly on course to complete her goal of a 'Serena Slam', adding the Australian Open to the Wimbledon, French and US Open titles she already holds.
If she defeats Venus on Saturday she will become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1994 to hold all the Grand Slam titles at the same time. Graf also completed a calendar-year Grand Slam in 1988.
"It was an unbelievable battle out there," said Williams. "I kept fighting. I thought, 'I don't want to lose 6-1.' Then I said I don't want to lose 6-2. So I just kept fighting. Next thing I know I came back.
"I've always been a fighter. I just keep fighting, I don't know where it comes from. It's innate.
Clijsters was upbeat in defeat, saying she had been unable to respond when Williams raised her game in the final set.
"If she plays her best tennis it's very hard to beat her," said Clijsters.
"I could feel that she was really trying to step it up and that she was hitting the balls a lot more aggressively.
"There were almost no unforced errors at the end. That's when you have to say 'Too good.' That's why she's the world number one and why she's won the last three Grand Slams in a row now."
While Serena took the scenic route into Saturday's final, Venus opted for a brisk defeat of Henin-Hardenne in her semi on the Rod Laver Arena.
Venus improved her record over Henin-Hardenne to 7-1, with her only loss coming in their first meeting on clay in the 2001 German Open, and is now looking ahead to Saturday's final.
"Four in a row is real nice and it's the best opportunity to take the title home," Venus said. "At least I am always in the position to be the victor. Hopefully, this time it will be different than the last three."
Serena reigned supreme in the finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last year.