Hostilities in the most titillating rivalry in tennis - and the most one-sided among the long-term elite - will be resumed on Saturday night. When Maria Sharapova says she will do "everything I can" to finally beat Serena Williams, the mind boggles.
More than 10 years and 15 meetings have passed since the Russian last had her way against Williams, who leads her 16-2 overall. Sharapova was just 17 then, and has taken only three sets off the game's modern powerhouse across that decade of dominance.
"I think I was basically underhand serving," she said of that 2004 match in Los Angeles, either a throwaway line or a betrayal of what is not exactly a friendly rivalry.
Infamously, Williams' "black heart" boyfriend jibe about Grigor Dimitrov in 2013 elicited advice from Sharapova about dating her married tennis coach. That verbal serve and return alone added enough spice to enliven a lifetime of subsequent meetings.
"I think my confidence should be pretty high going into a final of a grand slam no matter who I'm facing against and whether I've had a terrible record, to say the least, against someone," Sharapova said on Thursday. "It doesn't matter. I got there for a reason. I belong in that spot. I will do everything I can to get the title."
Williams is 18-4 from 22 grand slam final appearances over her stunning career. She steps onto court on the second Saturday with a killer's cold steel in her eyes, and seeing Sharapova across the net, their fourth meeting in a slam decider, will only harden her resolve.
"Maria is playing great. She's in the tournament only because she's a fighter and only because she refuses to give up," she said after testing a straight sets win over Madison Keys in which she took nine match points to put the rising teenager away.
"So, yeah, it's a new match. She has nothing to lose, once again. She has only things to gain. And I feel that way, too. I feel I don't. I've won this tournament several times. I don't have to go out there and have another title. I want it, but it's not life or death for me.
"I think that helps me to relax. So, yeah, she absolutely has nothing to lose, and I have nothing to lose, so it will be fun."
Sharapova identified power and aggressiveness as the Williams traits that have troubled her most, neither of which she was asked to contend with in a limp semi-final dismissal of compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.
"I think that's always made me a little bit too aggressive, maybe going for a little bit more than I had to," she said of her Williams tale of woe. "You know, she's great at making players hit that shot that you don't necessarily have to go for.
"It's been a really difficult match-up for me, but, you know, I am a competitor. I will go out and I will do everything I can to try to change that result around."
Williams insisted she was simply happy to be in another final, and a first in Melbourne since her fifth Australian Open title five years ago. The cough that has been troubling her is improving by the day, and her US Open win last September is testament that a more carefree approach is working for her.
"It started last year because I was so hyped on getting to 18 (grand slam titles) and I lost every grand slam early. I didn't make it to any quarter-finals. Then after Wimbledon I decided to just not not necessarily not care, but just relax. It all kind of came back for me after that."
Sharapova remembered that 2005 semi, decided 8-6 in the third, as "a very physical battle", one in which she had many chances. "It was a really tough one to lose." She knows Williams will not afford her the luxury of time to set up and swing big, as she did to great effect against Makarova.
Serena has made sport of exposing Sharapova's inferior movement around the court and will see no reason to stop prodding that achilles heel. She is under no illusions about how desperate Sharapova is to buck the trend.
"I think she really wants this. I can see that she wants to do well. She wants to improve her game. She wants to take it to the next level. So, you know, I have to know that she wants to win probably a lot."
