Australian Open 2017: Schedule, Predictions for Saturday Melbourne Bracket

If the 2017 Australian Open organizers wanted a couple of huge championship matchups for their tournament, they got their wish.

While the presence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the men's final on Sunday promises to be memorable, it is no greater than the women's final between sisters Serena and Venus Williams scheduled for Saturday (3:30 a.m. ET).

It's never a surprise when second-seeded Serena earns a spot in the championship round, but 13th-seeded Venus has put on a compelling performance to earn her spot in the Grand Slam event's climax.

The sisters last met in a championship final at Wimbledon 2009. Serena was successful in that matchup, and that was the last time Venus reached the final of any Grand Slam event.

The 36-year-old won an epic meeting with CoCo Vandeweghe in the semifinals. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Venus rallied to win the final two sets and take the match. 

Player	Player	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
Serena Williams (2)	Venus Williams (13)	3:30 a.m.	ESPN	Serena Williams

The celebration after the match was uninhibited, as the elder Williams sister danced, spun and leaped following her victory over Vandeweghe. 

"That moment was just joy," she said later (h/t Greg Garber of ESPN.com). "It was a heartfelt match. If the match is 6-2, 6-2, you know, the moment is kind of clear that it's going to happen. But she played so well. There was never a moment where she wasn't just hitting the ball amazing and striking the ball with just such precision."

While the siblings are thrilled to be playing each other in the final, it will be a major challenge for Venus to overcome Serena's strength and power. She has won 22 Grand Slam titles throughout her remarkable career, while Venus has seven titles.

Serena got to the final with an overpowering 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the semifinals. Although she had a relatively easy time in that match, the 35-year-old's serve has not been on point throughout the run of the tournament. She lost four games on her serve in an earlier match against Barbora Strycova.

If Serena has issues with her serve again, her older sister may be able to take advantage and come up with a championship performance. If not, look for Serena to come away with Grand Slam title No. 23—which will take her past Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22.

The men's final on Sunday between Federer and Nadal should also be a thriller.

This will be the ninth time these two rivals are meeting in a Grand Slam final. Nadal earned his ticket to the championship round with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 victory Friday over talented Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, while Federer defeated Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka on Thursday.

The Spaniard held off Dimitrov in the eighth game of the final set and then broke his opponent in the ninth game. Nadal then served out the 10th game to win the match.

The 30-year-old has a 23-11 career record against Federer, whom many observers categorize as one of the greatest players of all time.