Serena Williams into Australian Open final

MELBOURNE: Serena Williams moved within a one win of a 10th Grand Slam title and fourth in Australia with a dominating 6-3, 6-4 win over Elena Dementieva on Thursday.

The second-seeded Williams has a sequence of winning the Australian Open every alternate year since 2003.

Roger Federer, seeking a record equaling 14th Grand Slam singles title to match Pete Sampras'' career record, was playing American Andy Roddick in the night semifinal.

No. 2 Federer, who is 15-2 against seventh-seeded Roddick, who beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal set up an all-Spanish final against Fernando Verdasco when he beat No. 6 Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 on Wednesday night, Verdasco ousted 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (2), 3-6,6-3, 6-2.