Victoria Azarenka has clawed her way through to her first grand slam final by beating defending champion Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open on Thursday.

The third seed was forced to fight off a second-set comeback from Clijsters before asserting her dominance to take the semi-final 6-4 1-6 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes.

She will meet the winner of the second semi between 2008 champion Maria Sharapova and Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in Saturday’s title match.

Clijsters, who was aiming to become the eighth woman to successfully defend her Australian crown, has played her last Open after announcing she will retire for a second and last time this year.

Azarenka admitted she became jittery while holding three match points and serving for a spot in the final.

She gave away one with a double-fault and a wry smile crossed her face as she missed her first serve on the second point.

But a wild Clijsters return finally gave her the match.

“I felt like my hand was about 200kg and my body was about 1000kg,” Azarenka said.

“Everything was shaking.

“But the feeling when I won was such a relief – I can’t believe it’s over – I just wanted to cry.”

Azarenka, who will become the new world No.1 if she wins the final, said she tried to remain positive after Clijsters whipped through the second set for the loss of just one game.

“I just tried to stay in the moment,” she said.

“Kim really took over the second set, there was nothing I could do, I just tried to regroup and keep fighting.

“But I am really proud of the way I fought, I fought for every ball.”

Azarenka is in ominous form ahead of the final having won the recent Sydney International.

The two players lumbered through the first set in 49 minutes, trading service breaks before the Belarusian eventually took it.

She was powerless in the second set but in the third, after breaking in the second game, she maintained her lead and earned three match points when Clijsters netted a return.