Serena Williams has advanced to a fifth Australian Open final and ended any chance of an all-Chinese championship match in the season’s first major.

Defending champion Williams wasted four match points before finishing off a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) semifinal win with an ace against Li Na on Thursday, a day after her sister Venus lost to the Chinese player in the quarterfinals.

Serena Williams has a 100 percent conversion rate so far in finals at Melbourne Park, winning the title every time she’s played for the championship since beating Venus here in 2003. The winning sequence has been every odd-numbered year so far.

After winning her 50th career singles match at Melbourne Park, Serena was joining Venus in a doubles semifinal in the afternoon.

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