PREVIEW: Australian Open Ladies' Final

Serena Williams (2) vs. Dinara Safina (3)
Head-to-head: ReRe 5, Dinara 1
Last meeting: WTA Championships (hard), ReRe 6-4, 6-1

We've arrived at the first major final of the season in Oz and it pits one lady baller going for her first Grand Slam title versus another looking to add to her ever-growing major title haul of nine. Oh, and the winner grabs the keys to the WTA Penthouse from current resident Jelena Jankovic.

Serena Williams will battle Dinara Safina on Saturday night in Melbourne for the Aussie Open ladies' crown. Let's take a look!

How They Got Here: ReRe, who just became the all-time career earnings leader in all of women's sports by reaching the Aussie Open final and winning the doubles crown with sister Venus, began the fortnight showing some rust but rounded into form during the third set of her quarterfinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 27-year old went on to oust the streaking Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals by serving with accuracy and defending relentlessly. It will be ReRe's fourth Aussie Open final and third consecutive Grand Slam final.

Dinara also struggled with her form during the tourney, going the distance in the three of her matches and coming back from 2-5 down and two match points to defeat Frenchie Alize Cornet in the fourth round. Like ReRe, the Russian was able to subdue another streaking lady baller, Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the semifinals to make her first Oz Open final and second career Grand Slam final.

The last time these two ladies met was at the 2008 season-ending WTA Championships in Doha when ReRe, who eventually withdrew from the tourney with injury, dominated an exhausted Dinara 6-4, 6-1 in round robin play.


The 9-time Grand Slammer was asked about battling the Russian and how her game has developed over the years:

Q. How important is the experience factor tomorrow, the fact you've been there so many times before, Dinara has only played in one Grand Slam final?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know if that factors in too much. Once you make it to one Grand Slam final, you pretty much know what to expect. So if she hadn't made it to the final before, then I would say, yeah, I'd be more experienced. Seeing as she's already been there, I think if anything she's going to be way more hungry for it and want it even more. That's going to be definitely going for her.

Q. You were on the tour five years before Dinara came along. Can you tell us how you looked at her when she first came on and how you've seen her develop.

SERENA WILLIAMS: She's developed a lot. She's gotten a lot more confident. When she first came, she was so young and so sweet. I mean, she's still sweet now. You can just see she's more focused now, more intense, and you can just totally see the change.

Q. What about from a game perspective?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, her game has just developed. It's improved leaps and bounds.

Dinara was asked about her lone win over the American and what it will take to beat her:

Q. In [Berlin '08] you also beat Serena Williams. Do you think that will help you going into the final?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, you know, it was a clay court. Now it's completely different. I don't know if we're going to play with the roof open, closed. So let's see what's gonna be on Saturday. So let's see how it's gonna be the conditions. It's different tournament. It's not only that I played her in Berlin, I played two more times against her. I hope I will use ‑‑ the mistakes that I did after, I will not use it next time.

Q. Do you think at the US Open and the Championships when you played her, you just weren't physically or mentally prepared for it?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, those two tournaments it's tough to judge, because playing US Open and Masters, especially Masters, I was just not ready to play at all. I was dead completely. There was nothing inside of me anymore. And also, US Open, coming after winning two tournaments in a row, playing final at Beijing, that took so much energy out of me. When I got there, I was just not ready to play. So now it's different. It's beginning of the season. It's another tournament. Just looking forward for my next challenge.

Q. Serena Williams, is she more intimidating to play against than some of the other girls? Other girls seem to crumble under the pressure of playing her at times.

DINARA SAFINA: I cannot talk about the other players, how they feel when they play against her. I just can talk on my own. You know, we played three times last year. I beat her once. I'm looking forward for this time to play against her.

Outlook: Dinara's game, especially her serve, has deserted her throughout the fortnight but she showcased her mental toughness by gutting out wins with pure desire and belief. That being said, her first serve percentage needs to be high in the final so that she can play first-strike tennis and control the center of the court. If not, she'll be on the defensive immediately in the point and spend the evening on her back foot defending against ReRe's barrage of groundies - a certain recipe for a Dinara disaster.

This match, like most matches involving ReRe, is on her racquet - no question. She possesses endless experience, a more complete game, can play tough-as-nails defense when necessary, and has proven her champion's mettle time and time again in the biggest matches. Plus, her serve is the best in the game when it's clicking - and it has since the Rod Laver retractable roof was closed.

It will take a zoning Dinara to knock a determined ReRe off the path to her 10th career major final - but I don't see that happening.

WINNER: ReRe

(images via Getty)