Williams sisters wins Australian Open doubles

Serena and Venus Williams teamed to win their eighth Grand Slam doubles title Friday in the Australian Open, a day before Serena's bid for a 10th major singles crown.

The Williams sisters beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3 for their third doubles championship in Australia.

The roof was closed at Rod Laver Arena, with outside temperatures topping 113 degrees by late afternoon on the third day of a heat wave.

"I'd like to thank Serena for being the best partner," Venus said. "I wouldn't want to play with anyone else. She's amazing."

The sisters also combined to win the Olympic gold medal in Beijing last year.

Playing under cover was the ideal warmup for Serena ahead of her singles final against third-seeded Dinara Safina on Saturday night.

"I think it definitely helps my singles," Serena said. "It definitely does serve as practice. Although when I'm practicing, like today I was practicing singles instead of doubles, for my match. So I'm having a lot of practices and a lot of workouts. I just look at it like I'm burning lots of calories."

Safina, the younger sister of 2005 Australian Open men's champion and former No. 1-ranked Marat Safin, has never won a major.

The 22-year-old Russian's best previous run at a Grand Slam event ended in a loss to Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final.

Serena Williams has won the Australian title every odd-numbered year since 2003 and has nine singles majors overall.

Roger Federer is only one way from equaling Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

Andy Roddick was right there when Sampras won his 14th. And Roddick was right there again when Federer moved within one victory of matching the record.

After a scorching day, Federer beat Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in more manageable 91-degree heat Thursday night in the semifinals.

The Swiss star will be playing in his 18th Grand Slam final but won't know his opponent until Friday night, when Spanish left-handers Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco meet in the other semifinal.

It was Federer's seventh straight win over Roddick in a major and put his overall record in this matchup at 16-2. Federer's loss to Roddick in Miami last year now seems like an aberration.

Roddick lost to Sampras in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the 2002 U.S. Open when he was a 20-year-old emerging talent. Sampras, then 31 and in his 52nd major, retired after beating Andre Agassi two matches later to win the U.S. Open.

Roddick won the next year at Flushing Meadows and held the No. 1 ranking in 2003, just as Federer was about to embark on an astonishing run.

"When Pete did it — I was a part of that one, too — everyone was saying how kind of lofty of an achievement it was," Roddick said. "I don't know if we thought we would see it any time soon. Little did we know (Federer) was going to start it the next year and go after it."

Roddick is 26, a year younger than Federer.

"It's like my childhood was Pete, and now it's kind of my grown life is Roger," Roddick said. "I guess Roger is a contemporary of mine, which didn't lessen the affect. I see Pete and Andre and I still get a little jittery. It's crazy to think it's come full circle and the magnitude of the numbers (Federer's) accomplished, it's pretty scary if you sit down and go through what it takes to accomplish that."

Federer's focus has been increasingly sharp since he was forced to come back from two sets down to beat Tomas Berdych in the fourth round. In his quarterfinal, he convincingly took down No. 8-ranked Juan Martin del Potro, then did the same against Roddick.

At this stage last year, Federer was deconstructing his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. He spoke of having "created a monster" with all his success.

Federer is over the mononucleosis that lingered at the start of last year and contributed to a season in which he lost the No. 1 ranking he held for 237 weeks. He said he's in much better physical and mental shape, yet still surprised how any dip in form is interpreted.

"If I lose a set or two sets against Berdych, everybody is like, 'Oh, my God, he's not the same anymore,'" he said. "And then you beat Del Potro and everything is back to normal. You don't lose your edge that quickly. It's just not possible."

He responded to the close shave against Berdych in the best way he knew.

"Came up with two great victories now and usually that's when I start playing my best: Toward the end of the tournament," he said. "I think this is where you should judge a great player."

No Spaniard has won the Australian title, but Nadal is clearly best qualified. He's the only man to beat Federer in a Grand Slam final — three times at the French and the five-set epic last year at Wimbledon.

Federer said he'd have more of an advantage over Verdasco, who has never reached this stage of a major.

But "playing Rafa is obviously more exciting because of the history we have," he said. "Him being the best player in the world at the moment, it would make it a very intriguing match."