Serena Williams has breezed into the final of the US Open, beating Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 6-3 in their last-four encounter this evening.

The 17th seed opened the match with a comfortable hold of serve as she looked to upset the defending champion, but the world number one soon took control of the opening set, taking just over 20 minutes to clinch it.

The American continued to dominate, breaking the Russian in the opening game of the second as she extended her winning run to nine straight games.

After a run of lacklustre service games, Makarova finally got on the board in the second set after saving another break point while 4-0 down, winning three of the next four to give herself a glimmer of hope, but a mistake on her own serve gave Williams a match point, allowing her to progress to the final in just over an hour.

Williams will attempt to clinch her third title in a row at Flushing Meadows when she takes on Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the final.