SYDNEY, January 29. /TASS/. American tennis player Serena Williams will face Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final after both won their semi-finals in Melbourne.

Top ranked Williams beat her fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

Russia’s Sharapova reached the Australian Open final, the season's first Grand Slam tennis tournament, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

Sharapova won the Australian Open title only once in 2008. Sharapova and 10th-seeded Makarova have played five times and Sharapova has won all the five.

Over the past years, Sharapova has won 22 of her last 23 matches against fellow Russians.