Australian Open final 2016, Serena Williams vs Angelique Kerber: Where to watch live, preview and betting odds

Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams — Angelique Kerber (left) has beaten Serena Williams (right) just once on the WTA Tour Getty

Six-time Melbourne champion Serena Williams faces Angelique Kerber in the final of the 2016 Australian Open on Saturday 30 January as she seeks to equal Steffi Graf's open-era record of 22 singles grand slam titles.

Where to watch

Live coverage of Williams vs Kerber can be found on Eurosport 1 and the Eurosport player. The match is scheduled to commence at 08.15 GMT, with live scores and real-time updates available via the official Australian Open website. The BBC will also have radio and text commentary in addition to a highlights programme from 13.00 GMT.

Preview

Williams came into this year's Australian Open with doubts surrounding a troublesome knee injury that had forced her to withdraw from Hopman Cup duty in early January. Rather than suffer from any ill effects, however, the reigning world number one has been in typically imperious form and is yet to drop a single set throughout the tournament.

A first-round meeting with Camila Giorgi was the perfect test of her conditioning and since then she has looked supremely confident in advancing past Su-Wei Hsieh, Darya Kasatkina and Margarita Gasparyan. The last eight brought an incredible 18th consecutive victory over long-time rival Maria Sharapova and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska was then confidently brushed aside in the semi-finals 6-0, 6-4.

Attempting to stop Williams from chalking up yet another grand slam success is Kerber. The German, who ended Briton Johanna Konta's fairytale run on 28 January, is currently ranked at sixth by the WTA but this is her first major career final. Her best efforts to date came with semi-final appearances at the 2011 US Open and Wimbledon in 2012, where she was beaten by Samantha Stosur and Radwanska respectively. She has also reached the quarters of the French Open on one previous occasion before losing to Sara Errani.

Aside from her opening match against Misaki Doi, the 28-year-old left-hander has been just as frugal with her subsequent victories against Alexandra Dulgheru, Madison Brengle, Annika Beck, Victoria Azarenka and Konta all coming in straight sets. A 5-1 career deficit in tour matches against Williams is hardly a great source of comfort, although a 6-4, 6-4 triumph at the 2012 Cincinnati Masters will likely provide inspiration.

What the players say

Serena Williams: "I thought she played unbelievable in that match [at Cincinnati in 2012]. That's something that I'll never forget. I just remember her serving really well, her moving well, her being determined to win that. I think from then on out I've been really focused that she's someone that I, and everyone, has to take very serious.

"I felt really good my first final. I just had this feeling before the tournament started that I was going to do really well there. She might have the same feeling, I don't know. But it felt good."

Angelique Kerber: "Serena played very great here. I saw the match against Aga yesterday. She will go out there to win her next Grand Slam. I must be ready to take the challenge to play against the best player right now. She's the world No. 1. She's the champion. She won everything. I have actually nothing to lose. But still I will go out there to try to challenge her, playing good tennis. I know that I won against her once, so I can beat her. But I must play my best I can play.

"You know, against Serena you never know how she's serving. I mean, she's serving unbelievable good. She's returning good. I think the first few balls, they are really deciding in the match. I must be there from the first point and playing very deep. When I'm too short, she's just going for it. She is making winner, winner and winner. I saw it yesterday against Aga. I must be ready to play my game and being also aggressive like she is."