Australian Open 2015 Women's Final: TV Schedule, Start Time and Live Stream Info

Although the women's draw at the 2015 Australian Open began with a rash of upsets, the end game comes as no surprise. Top seed Serena Williams will seek her 19th Grand Slam singles title when she faces off with No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova on Saturday.

The women's game is trending in a more competitive direction. That's why many middle seeds went down quite early. Yet when Williams and Sharapova are in top form, they are on a different level than anybody else on the WTA Tour.

Their previous meetings are lopsided in favor of the world No. 1. But with Sharapova playing some terrific tennis over the past few weeks, fans could be in for an instant classic. Let's check out all of the key details for the match followed by a preview and prediction.

Viewing Information

Where: Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia

When: Saturday, Jan. 31, at 3:30 a.m. ET

Watch: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Women's Final Preview

Sharapova went 2-1 in her first three meetings with Williams. The head-to-head record now stands at 16-2 in favor of the American after 15 straight victories. That's highly impressive when you consider the Russian has been considered her closest competition for most of the past decade.

The first triumph in that extended winning streak came in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals. Williams won 8-6 in the third to advance. She proceeded to beat Lindsay Davenport in the final for her second of five Aussie Open crowns.

Since that point, only twice has Sharapova pushed a match between the two superstars to a third set. She lost those deciding sets 6-1 and 6-0.

The only way to describe it is complete dominance by Williams. Jim Caple of espnW.com passed along comments from the favorite on how much she enjoys these clashes. "I think my game matches up well against her," Williams said. "I love playing her. I think it's fun. I love her intensity. For whatever reason, I love playing [her]. I just have the time of my life.

Christopher Clarey of The New York Times joked about the one-sided nature of the meetings:

One issue Williams has dealt with so far in 2015 is slow starts. There was a viral story during the Hopman Cup about her ordering coffee during a match for an added boost. It's a problem that's carried over into the season's first major.

Twice during her run to the final, she dropped the opening set. Another time, she fell behind Vera Zvonareva 5-3 in the first set before winning 10 straight games to advance. Her margin for error against Sharapova won't be nearly as large.

The good news for Williams is that she's coming off a rock-solid performance in the semifinals. Fellow American—and one of the sport's brightest young stars—Madison Keys came out firing, and the No. 1 seed survived the early barrage en route to advancing in straight sets.

Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated highlighted her ability to raise her level when it matters most:

While the top seed was battling her way through matches, Sharapova has been nothing short of outstanding. Over the last four matches, she hasn't lost more than three games in a set despite facing Eugenie Bouchard, Ekaterina Makarova, Peng Shuai and Zarina Diyas.

Those are all seeded opponents, and the first two are top-tier players when at their best. None of them can replicate the type of challenge the No. 2 player in the world will face Saturday, though.

The most important factor for Sharapova is playing within herself. Too often during the losing streak, she has played too aggressively, trying to clip too many lines. It's become a mental hurdle just as much as a physical one.

She must trust herself to compete with Williams by playing the same type of tennis that's allowed her to reach this point with relative ease. Otherwise, the result will be the same as the last 15.

Brad Gilbert of ESPN provided some further notes about the final:

Ultimately, Sharapova has been playing too well in Melbourne to predict another blowout. That's especially true considering Williams' struggles early in matches. So it wouldn't be a shock to see the No. 2 seed grab the opening set.

Things would then get very interesting. The question would be whether Sharapova could finally put those previous demons behind her and close out the match. It's very much a mystery and should make for great drama between the two power players.

In the end, however, Williams still holds the slight edge.

Prediction: Serena Williams in three sets