Angelique Kerber yesterday upset world No. 1 Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch the Australian Open and become the first German to win a grand slam title since her childhood idol Steffi Graf in 1999.
The 34-year-old American had been seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title and 22nd overall, which would have moved her into a tie with Graf for the most grand slam singles titles in the Open era.
However, the seventh-seeded Kerber was not overawed by the occasion of her first grand slam final, breaking twice in the first set as Williams made 23 unforced errors.
Photo: EPA
Williams cut down on the errors to send it into a third, which Kerber, who had the opportunity to serve it out while leading 5-3 only for the American to battle back, clinched when Williams hit a volley long in the next game.
“When I played here the first round I was match point down and playing with one leg on the plane to Germany,” an emotional Kerber said in a courtside interview. “I took my second chance to play the final against Serena. To win it is my dream come true. Now I can say I’m a grand slam champion and it sounds really crazy.”
The opening salvo had looked ominous as Williams raced through the first game to love and then put pressure on the German, who was down 15-30 after a double fault, but managed to suppress any demons she might have had and held on.
The 28-year-old German then played superb defensive tennis against the powerful Williams, scrambling to force her to play an extra shot that ultimately contributed to 23 unforced errors from the American in the first set.
Those errors and a lack of timing on several potential winners enabled the German to break again in the seventh game and then seal the first set in 39 minutes when Williams made another unforced error.
The pair held serve in the opening two games of the second set before Williams began to get her timing back and made less errors as she raced out to a 4-1 lead, though the concerned look she shot her supporters in the players’ box suggested she had been battling to work the German out.
Williams sent the match into a decider when Kerber hit an easy forehand into the net to clinch the second set.
Both players suffered early breaks in the third set, but the championship appeared to have tipped in the German’s favor in a marathon sixth game when she finally converted her fifth break point to take a 4-2 lead.
She extended that to 5-2 and was serving for the title at 5-3 before Williams fought back, though the inspired German was able to clinch her first grand slam and then collapse onto the court in jubilation.
Williams’ relaxed outlook on life spilled over even in defeat when she appeared to be almost as happy that Kerber had won her first grand slam final as the German herself.
“I was actually really happy for her. She played so well today. She had an attitude that I think a lot of people can learn from, just to always stay positive and to never give up,” Williams told reporters after the match. “If I couldn’t win, I’m happy she did.”
Williams beaming smile and graciousness in defeat also drew warm applause from the crowd and praise from the sporting world.
“Fantastic gesture after match point and such kind words — a great champion, @serenawilliams!,” Manchester United and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said on Twitter.
The response after defeat was a far cry from the player who was once booed by fans at the 2009 US Open after a heated exchange with a line umpire for which she given a suspended ban and ordered to pay half of a US$175,000 fine.
Williams has previously said that a cut foot and blood clot on her lung that almost cost her career, and life, five years ago had helped her reassess, while in the last 12 months she has also recognized she is in the twilight of her career.
She was under immense pressure last year when she had the opportunity to become the first player since Graf in 1988 to claim a calendar grand slam, only to have the dream ended by Roberta Vinci in the US Open semi-finals.
Williams took the rest of the season off to rest niggling injuries and deal with the disappointment of missing the grand slam achievement.
That loss, however, also appears to have helped her deal with expectations and she no longer puts that pressure upon herself.
“Every time I walk in this room, everyone expects me to win every single match, every single day of my life. As much as I would like to be a robot, I’m not,” she said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS