VENUS WILLIAMS says she will be up against the fiercest competitor in the game when she faces her sister Serena in tomorrow’s Australian Open final.Venus and Serena will meet for the 28th time and in their ninth major final as the game’s most successful siblings do battle for the first grand slam title of the year.

The stakes are high for Serena, who stands just one win away from an Open era record 23rd grand slam title, moving her clear of Steffi Graf and one short of Margaret Court’s all-time best 24.

For Venus, however, the title match is her first at a major tournament in eight years and, at 36, it makes her the oldest woman to reach a grand slam final since a 37-year-old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.

Serena is the clear favourite, however. She has won seven of their last eight match-ups and has been ruthless so far in Melbourne, yet to drop a set and poised to claim her seventh Australian Open crown.

“When I’m playing on the court with her, I think I’m playing the best competitor in the game,” Venus said.

“But I don’t think I’m chump change either. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.

“So it’s two players who really, really can compete — then also they can play tennis.”

Venus showed her stamina by coming from a set down to beat the in-form Coco Vandeweghe 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-3 yesterday.

Asked what she needs to do to win the final, Venus said: “Honestly, I probably just need to continue playing like I’m playing.

“I haven’t played badly. I lost a set today. I was not happy about it but my opponent deserved that set.

“So what else could I do? Try to get the next two. I will try to do the same again on Saturday.”

Serena enjoyed an altogether more comfortable passage as she beat surprise semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2 6-1.

“It is definitely, 100 per cent, the best-case scenario that I could have ever dreamt of,” Serena said on facing her sister.

“I don’t need any motivation to win. I just need to step out on the court.”

Roger Federer meanwhile secured his place in Sunday’s men’s final, keeping his bid for an 18th grand slam final alive.

He held off a thrilling fightback from Stan Wawrinka to win their semi-final 7-5 6-3 1-6 4-6 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena but had to call a medical time-out at the end of the fourth set.

The Swiss said afterwards he had been suffering from a minor problem with his upper leg in Melbourne and that it had caused him some discomfort against Wawrinka from the second game onwards.

Federer did not look too seriously troubled and he also has two full days to recover for the final, which is more time than is available to Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov, who play their semi-final today.

Asked if the injury would affect him this weekend, Federer said: “If I had to say anything right now, no.”