Serena Williams powered to her seventh Wimbledon crown as the world number one finally claimed a record-equalling 22nd major title with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final.
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Kerber had stopped Williams in the Australian Open final to win her first grand slam title and last month Spain’s Garbine Muguruza also kept the 34-year-old waiting to equal Graf’s mark when she beat her in the French Open final.
Williams secured a final break in the eighth game of the second set, and then served out the victory with a forehand volley victor, fittingly the same stroke which she had flubbed against Kerber down match point in Australia.
“I had to start looking at positives, not focusing on that one loss per tournament which really isn’t bad – for anyone else on this tour they would be completely happy about it”, she said.
But she showed no sign of distraction as the Williams ran out comfortable winners against Kazakh player Shvedova and Hungarian Babos.
At 3-3 in the first set, a 21-shot rally ended in a signature double fist pump from Serena. She played really well and every single point I really had to work for and nothing was given to me so it made for a really good match.
It was a lesson Angelique Kerber learned the hard way yesterday as no matter what the German did on court, she was powerless to prevent the unstoppable force that is Serena Williams from running away with the Venus Rosewater Dish.
“I think sometime after the French Open, [coach] Patrick [Mouratoglou] and I were talking, strategising”.
The German expressed that despite her disappointment, she is proud of how far she has come. The latest major of the year starts on August 29 in NY. “No, that’s not going to shake me, you’re not going to break me, it’s going to make me stronger”. “And yeah, I’ll just enjoy the moment”.
“I remember one and two”. Victory in NY, where her semi-final defeat by Roberta Vinci ended her hopes of the calendar year grand slam last year, would put her on 23, one behind Court. But I just had a very clear feeling it was going to be a rough tournament for me after winning a Grand Slam and coming here.
“The tennis player was there but Serena as a person was not really herself, so she was beatable”.
The Frenchman said: “If I’m totally honest, I’m not relieved to have the 22nd, I’m relieved to have found back Serena”. After I won that first set, I got a little more calm. “Of course it feels disappointing, that’s for sure”.
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The Royal Box was once again packed full with a galaxy of stars who have turned out for the prestigious occasion and the opportunity to see Williams confirm her status as an all-time great. If I can just play my game, I know I have a really good chance at winning this match..
