Australian Open 2017: Results, Highlights, Thursday Scores Recap from Melbourne

Serena and Venus Williams will go head-to-head in a Grand Slam final for the first time in eight years after beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and CoCo Vandeweghe, respectively, on Thursday, while Roger Federer beat Stan Wawrinka to continue the throwback theme of the Australian open.

Melbourne appears to have traveled back in time this year, with Venus, Serena, and Federer all undergoing a late-career resurgence. If Rafael Nadal wins his match against Grigor Dimitrov on Friday, we will see a repeat of the 2009 Australian Open men's final and the first all-Williams Grand Slam final since the same year.

Here is confirmation of the day's results:

Men's Singles	Results
Women's Singles	Results
[17] Roger Federer bt. [4] Stan Wawrinka	7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3
[13] Venus Williams bt. CoCo Vandeweghe	6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3
[2] Serena Williams bt. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni	6-2, 6-1

Venus came from a set down on Thursday to win a hard-fought contest in two hours and 25 minutes. Vandeweghe's serve was broken twice in the second set, prompting cries of frustration and thrown rackets, and she appeared mentally derailed by the sudden turn in fortune.

The 25-year-old was immediately broken in the third and, after failing to convert her only break point of the set, looked defeated.

After advancing to her first Grand Slam final since 2009, Venus could not contain her joy, as the Australian Open Twitter account and sports journalist J. A. Adande highlight:

But once she had calmed down, Venus quickly praised the quality of her opponent.

"It means so much, mostly because CoCo played so well, so unbelievable," she said, per Kevin Mitchell for the Guardian. "I had to play defence all the time. There was never a moment of relaxation, ever"

In the second match of the day, Serena ensured that the Australian crowd would be treated to another all-Williams final with a comfortable win against in-form Lucic-Baroni.

Serena, who has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles including six Australian Opens, breezed through to the final in a mere 50 minutes.

Serena didn't put a foot wrong. She won five out of six break points, per Russell Jackson for the Guardian, and hit 14 winners—that's one every three-and-a-half minutes.

She is also yet to drop a set in the tournament, and as ESPN pointed out, this means she is closing in on a new record:

It was a masterclass from the No. 2 seed on Australia Day, who won 24 out of 26 of the points contested on her first serve in a one-sided affair. Lucic-Baroni did not stand a chance and should not feel disheartened despite winning just three games in total.

"Honestly she's an inspiration," Serena said of her opponent, per Jackson. "She honestly deserves all the credit. You guys were really good to support her. I'm really happy for her."

And the 35-year-old seemed excited by the prospect of reliving the glory years with a ninth all-Williams Grand Slam final.

"Obviously I was really proud of Venus," she said, per Jackson. "She's basically my world and my life. [Playing Venus is] a dream come true."

Federer's five-set win against Wawrinka was a brilliant advertisement for tennis. The 35-year-old was plain sailing at 2-0, with his opponent reduced to tears as he walked off for a medical break, but somehow Wawrinka pulled it back to two sets each.

Aaron Favila/Associated Press

The four-time Australian Open champion deserved to beat his compatriot on the balance of play, but Wawrinka will be frustrated by the way he let it slip. Federer broke his serve in the final set thanks to three consecutive unforced errors, including a double fault on break point.

The quality of the match was summarised by Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim:

Federer has defied all expectations in reaching his 28th Grand Slam final, where he could face his old foe Nadal.

"I'm probably [Nadal's] number one fan," he said, per Jacob Steinberg for the Guardian. "We've had some epic battles over the years. It would be unreal to play here. I don't think both of us thought we were going to be here potentially playing in the final."

If Nadal wins, we can look forward to two Grand Slam finals made entirely of players in their 30s—and a repeat of the Wimbledon final lineup of 2008.