The American had not featured in the final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden since 2001, having begun a 14-year boycott following the tournament after she was booed, along with father Richard, due to her sister Venus controversially withdrawing.

Her progress from the semi-finals initially looked under threat when Radwanska broke in the opening game of the match and eventually opened up a 4-2 lead.

Williams, a 21-time Grand Slam winner, hit back to win four straight games to claim the set 6-4 and looked to be cruising to victory after moving into a 3-0 advantage in the second.

She eventually had to come through a tie-breaker after the third seed broke back, sealing a 6-4, 7-6 win.

Williams will now meet Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, who came through a semi-final clash against the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova.

Azarenka won the opening set on a tie-break but struggled on serve throughout the duration of the second, allowing Pliskova to level the contest.

The Belarusian regained the momentum, however, to claim the decider and seal a 7-6, 1-6, 6-2 victory.

In the men’s draw, world number one Novak Djokovic battled to a straight sets victory in the quarter-final, despite a dogged performance from France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Serbian star was taken to a tie-breaker in the two sets but won both 6-2 to record a 7-6, 7-6 victory.

Djokovic will now face a semi-final clash with his Spanish rival Rafael Nadal.

He defeated his first top-10 ranked player this year by overcoming Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

The three-time champion at Indian Wells, a touraet that is part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Masters 1000 event, won the opening set 6-4 and maintained the momentum to claim the second 6-3.