Serena Williams Puts 2015 Letdowns in the Past with Australian Open Final Berth

Serena Williams rolls into the 2016 Australian Open final, leaving behind a trail of conquered opponents and the most painful of public defeats.

Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-4 in the semifinals to earn her seventh trip to the Australian Open final. She faces Angelique Kerber in that match.

After her win, Williams spoke with Rennae Stubbs during an on-court interview broadcast on ESPN. "I'm really excited to be in another final. It just kind of blows my mind right now. I just feel like I'm playing the best I can."

A number of experts, courtesy of ESPN, picked against Williams defending her Australian Open title. She hadn't played an official match since her devastating semifinal loss at the 2015 U.S. Open. Williams, just two wins shy of accomplishing the calendar-year Grand Slam, fell to unseeded Roberta Vinci.

Crushed by the loss, Williams decided to end her season early. In a statement BBC Sport published, Williams explained, "It's no secret I've played injured most of the year. Whether it was my elbow, my knee, or, in the final moments after a certain match in Flushing (Meadows), my heart."

Leif Shiras, a television commentator for Sky Sports, told USA Today, "I don't think we can understand the scale of what she felt. It's tough to play against history. You have to feel like her loss is a symptom of that pressure."

Heartbroken, Williams chose to retreat and regroup. Stubbs asked her about the time off and whether it helped her make a run in Melbourne. "Mentally, I needed that break after the Open," Williams told Stubbs. "I didn't think I'd do this well so fast."

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/Getty Images

Williams has become as adapt at bouncing back as she is at serving.

No stranger to adversity, Williams has emerged from setbacks many times in her career. In 2003, after her sister Yetunde Price's murder, Williams fell into depression. The next year she suffered a shocking upset loss at Wimbledon to Russian teenager Maria Sharapova.

Still dealing with the loss of her sister, Williams took more than a year away from the game. She traveled to Ghana and Senegal in 2006. She taught tennis and helped give out polio vaccines.

Williams entered the 2007 Australian Open unseeded and ranked No. 85. She blew through the field and crushed No. 1 Sharapova in the final.

After the win, Williams told Greg Baum of the Australian publication the Age, "There's always times out there when you think: 'Am I ever going to be looking at another trophy?' I hadn't won a tournament in a long time, let alone a Grand Slam. This one's right up there with the best. Even I didn't come in and expect to win it all."

She won Wimbledon in 2010, and just when it seemed she was on track, Williams cut her foot in a freak accident and underwent foot surgery. Before her foot could completely heal, Williams suffered a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Again, she became depressed.

And yet again, she emerged stronger, triumphant. ESPN Tennis noted Serena's "search" for her 22nd Grand Slam "continues":

"

The search for #22 continues. @serenawilliams #AusOpen #ESPNTennis pic.twitter.com/V0vBvF5MaB

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 28, 2016"

Upset in the first round at the 2012 French Open, Williams decided to stay in France and enlist the help of coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Since she started working with Mouratoglou, Williams has won eight Grand Slams.

Williams' ability to brush off adversity is rooted in mental toughness.

Her father, Richard Williams, credits her upbringing for his daughter's resolve. The June 2014 issue of the New Yorker features a quote from Richard responding to a tennis parent who wanted to know how he raised his daughters to be so mentally tough.

"Same way they got human tough. Running for their life! In the ghetto, no matter what color you are, you're gonna run for your life."

You can even see the fight in her during a match. Against Radwanska, Williams came out focused and on fire. She rushed out to a 6-0 lead in just 21 minutes. But in the second set, unforced errors crept into her game—perhaps so did doubt.

Radwanska was able to break Williams' serve. Suddenly, it was 3-3.

At that point, you had to wonder if Williams thought about her collapse against Vinci. She had gotten off to a fast start against Vinci, winning the first set 6-2.

But you could see Williams steady herself, keeping her head in the moment, grounded in the point.

Now only one win stands between Williams and a 22nd Grand Slam title. This would tie her with Steffi Graf for the most Slam titles in the Open era. She would only be two back of Margaret Court's 24.

It would begin the Golden Slam watch. But first, Williams must get by Kerber, who is playing in her first Grand Slam final.

Williams told New York Times writer Karen Crouse, "I feel like I'm in the semis, only one more match to go — that's how I think. I may as well give it my all."

Williams is 5-1 against Kerber. She has never lost an Australian Open final. Prior to last year's U.S. Open, Williams had never lost a match to Vinci. Once again she'll have to forget the blown opportunity at Flushing Meadows. Instead, Williams must focus on all that she's accomplished.

She can take comfort in knowing Rod Laver Arena has been a most hospitable place to play. No matter what Kerber brings to the match, if Williams can leave the painful past behind, history rests on her racket.