Andrew Wu at Melbourne Park
Maria Sharapova's dominant form at this year's Australian Open continued on Thursday when she blitzed third seed Jelena Jankovic on Rod Laver Arena to advance to Saturday's final.
Showing the same form which saw her effortlessly dispose of world No.1 Justine Henin on Tuesday night, Sharapova needed just 78 minutes to crush a physically and emotionally weary Jankovic 6-3 6-1.
"I kept momentum going, and she's always dangerous when she's down. She's proven that in this tournament," said Sharapova, who has dropped just 24 games in six matches en route to the final.
"I was happy I was able to close that first set out and then get through the second."
The Russian world No.5 now has a chance to atone for her dismal failure in last year's decider when she was comprehensively outplayed by comeback queen Serena Williams.
Like Sharapova 12 months ago, Jankovic simply had no answer for an opponent who did very little wrong.
Demoralised mentally and unable to cope with the pain of a back injury she picked up in the first set, one which required a medical timeout for treatment, Jankovic was reduced to tears at the final change of ends.
"I couldn't keep up and I wanted to withdraw but it was not fair to the crowd in a semi-final," Jankovic said. "And I played with how much I could to continue the match."
Jankovic, who conceded Sharapova was the better player, was under enormous pressure from the moment she was broken in her opening service game.
While Sharapova had no problems finding the lines, Jankovic was hopelessly off the radar, managing three winners to her opponent's 20.
Before the Rod Laver Arena crowd even had time to settle into their seats, Sharapova had jumped to a 4-0 lead.
Although Jankovic retrieved one break back, the die had well and truly been cast.
The second set was no happier for the Serb. Not only was Sharapova showing no sign of relenting, Jankovic's body was shutting down after more than nine hours of singles and three further doubles matches in the past 11 days.
Her serve was broken a further three times in the second set, the last time emphatically to love to hand Sharapova victory.