Henin to play against Serena in Australian Open final

Justine Henin entered into the Australian Open final on Thursday. She will meet the imposing Serena Williams gunning for her fifth title.

Henin is playing her first Grand Slam since coming out of an 18-month retirement and kept her historic run going with a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of unseeded Chinese Zheng Jie.

Williams also had to negotiate Chinese opposition and was made to work hard by 16th seed Li Na before grinding her down 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/1) under a hot sun on the Rod Laver Arena to set up an enticing decider on Saturday.

Henin has negotiated some tough opposition to get this far, including fifth seed Elena Dementieva, 19th seed Nadia Petrova and talented Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.

But the biggest test of her comeback will come in the form of Williams, who is angling for a 12th Grand Slam title to put her alongside Billie Jean King.

She saw off Li in just over two hours, with the rising Chinese star saving four match points before a delighted Williams clinched the win with an ace.

The world number one, who came back from the brink of defeat in a gruelling quarter-final against Victoria Azarenka, is also hoping to become the first player to successfully defend her title since American Jennifer Capriati in 2002.

But Williams was made to fight hard against a determined Li, who was not overawed playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final.

She pushed Williams all the way and learned a lot from playing such a high-profile game.