Through to the Australian Open final for a fifth time, defending champion Serena Williams believes playing the women's doubles with sister Venus has helped rather than hindered her cause in the singles.
Williams was forced to dig deep on Thursday at Melbourne Park to subdue Venus' quarter-final conqueror, Chinese 16th seed Li Na, the top seed eventually doing so 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1) in 122 minutes.
After finally getting the better of Li, who was contesting her first Grand Slam semi-final, Williams then backed up later in the day with her older sibling to also reach the women's doubles final, the pair defeating fellow American Lisa Raymond and local Rennae Stubbs 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
When she finally completed her commitments for the day at Melbourne Park by facing the media after her doubles match, to speak about the win over Li and the upcoming final against Belgian Justine Henin, Williams said her participation in the doubles had helped sharpen her game.
"I don't think it's flattened me (playing doubles as well), I think it's helped me," Williams said.
"I get a lot of extra practice. I think I spent a lot of time on the court but I like being out there."
"She (Henin) can look at it as she has an advantage because maybe her legs are fresh."
"(But) I can look at it as maybe I have an advantage because, I don't know, I've just been going at it."
Apart from the fact that she has reached another major final, as she looks to add to her haul of 11 Grand Slam titles including four at Melbourne Park, Williams was most pleased with the way she served against Li.
The 28-year-old made most of the running in both the first and second sets, only for Li to hold her own, before Williams finally ran away with the contest in the second-set tie-breaker, sealing her victory with an ace on her fifth match point.
But she was also quick to praise Li who battled valiantly but was ultimately unable to make it a Williams double and reach her first major final, Williams extending her winning record in their clashes to 4-1 overall.
"She was such a fighter," Williams added.
"I think the better question would be: 'What qualities doesn't she have'?"
"She has everything from ... a really good serve, to both great backhand and forehand."