Serena reaches Australian final

MELBOURNE, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Serena Williams reached her third consecutive major championship final Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Elena Dementieva at the Australian Open.

Williams will be seeking her fourth title in Australia and her 10th major crown overall when she takes on third-seeded Dinara Safina in the championship match Saturday night.

Safina topped seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in Thursday's other semifinal, an all-Russian affair. The winner of the Williams-Safina match will be recognized as No. 1 in world rankings.

Dementieva, last year's Olympic champion, had been 15-0 this year, including back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney and was in her third straight grand slam semifinal. But, she was no match this time for the speed and power of the second-seeded Williams.

Williams benefited from the roof being closed at Rod Laver Arena Thursday as temperatures reached 110 degrees in Melbourne.