Shootout will decide women's top gun

MELBOURNE- Simona Halep fended off Angelique Kerber to set up a high-stakes Australian Open final against Caroline Wozniacki that will have a first Grand Slam title and the No 1 ranking on the line for both players.

After No 2 Wozniacki secured her spot in the final with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over Elise Mertens earlier in the day, top-seeded Halep raced into a 6-3, 3-1 lead in the second semifinal before Kerber rallied to force a deciding set.

Both players had chances to serve out the match, and both staved off match points in engrossing rallies, before Halep converted on the fourth attempt to seal a 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory.

Halep was on a 10-match winning streak after collecting the title in Shenzhen while Kerber was on a 14-match streak that included the Hopman Cup and her title run in Sydney.

"Well, it definitely was very tough. I'm shaking now I'm really emotional," Halep said after her 2-hour, 20-minute triumph over Kerber, the only major winner to reach the last four.

"I had confidence in myself. I said to myself I will fight for every point and have a big rest after the tournament. Today I was like a roller coaster."

For Halep, now, it's a first Grand Slam final appearance off the clay at Roland Garros. For Wozniacki, it's a first Grand Slam final outside of America.

Both finalists had to save match points to reach Saturday's final.

Halep spent just shy of 10 hours on court in her first five matches, the longest of any of the semifinalists, and fended off triple match point in her third-round win over Lauren Davis that ended 15-13 in the decider.

Wozniacki has had a slightly smoother run, though she had to save match points and rally from 5-1 down in the third set of her second-round win.

She appeared to be coasting against Mertens, getting breaks in the middle of each set. But she began getting tight when she was serving for the match at 5-4.

From 30-15, she double-faulted twice and Mertens passed her with a forehand winner to tie it at 5-5.

No 37-ranked Mertens lifted her intensity, holding her serve at love and then having two set points in the next game before Wozniacki eventually held in a service game lasting over eight minutes.

"I got really tight at 5-4," Wozniacki said.

"I think I was nervous. I didn't do much wrong for the first three points of that game. I had two good serves, then I had that forehand down the line which I missed by a couple of millimeters. It was 30-15 instead of 40-love. All of a sudden it just turned around."

In the tiebreaker, Wozniacki's experience made the difference.

"Once she had set points. I thought, 'OK, now you just have to go for it ... she's nervous too,'" Wozniacki said. "I managed to just gather myself and thankfully closed it out in the end."

The 27-year-old Dane squandered a match point in a semifinal here against Li Na seven years ago, but held her composure this time around and converted her first match point in the tiebreaker.

Wozniacki lost the US Open final to Kim Clijsters in 2009 and to Serena Williams in 2014, but it was that semifinal loss to Li that has haunted her most among her near-misses.

"I've had many bad losses, many great wins (but) that's one of the ones that hurt extra because it was going into the finals of a Grand Slam," she said. "I felt like I was playing better on the day. I felt like it was my time to get there.

"I think that's why it hurt extra that I lost that day, especially with it being one point away."

The last time the top two seeds met in an Australian Open women's final, No 1 Serena Williams beat No 2 Maria Sharapova in 2015.

Associated Press