Murray, Serena Williams, Henin make Australian Open finals
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Andy Murray of Britain moved one step closer to ending his country's 74-year wait for a male Grand Slam tennis champion by beating Marin Cilic to reach the Australian Open final.
The fifth-seeded Briton defeated the No. 14 seed from Croatia 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Murray, 22, will meet either Grand Slam record holder Roger Federer or France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the championship. It's Murray's second appearance in a major final, after he lost the 2008 U. S. Open title to Federer.
The last man from Britain to win one of the sport's four major tournaments was Fred Perry, in the U.S. National Championships in 1936. Perry was also the last British player to win in Australia, in 1934.
Earlier in the day at Melbourne Park, defending champion Serena Williams and former winner Justine Henin defeated China's Li Na and Zheng Jie to reach the women's singles final.
The Belgian former world No. 1, who is playing only her second tournament since coming out of a 20-month retirement, defeated Zheng 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes, while the top-seeded Serena Williams won 7-6(4), 7-6(1) over No. 16 Li Na to reach the final for the fifth time.
Zheng Jie and Li Na had made history in Melbourne as the first players from China through to the last four of the Australian Open.
Williams will try to become the first woman to repeat as Australian champion since American Jennifer Capriati won in 2001 and 2002.
Henin is the second wild card to reach a Grand Slam women's final. Fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters won September's U.S. Open in her first major after coming back from retirement. The only other wild card to reach a Grand Slam semifinal was Zheng, who reached the final four at Wimbledon in 2008.
