So steady, so patient, so accurate throughout, she never really gave Williams much of a chance this time, putting together a 6-3, 6-3 victory Saturday for her first championship at the All England Club and third major overall.
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Kerber endured a hard 2017 after her most successful campaign the previous year and went without a tournament win for 12 months.
On paper, Serena Williams looked like a dead cert: a 23-time grand-slam champion and seven-time Wimbledon victor, who had not lost a match here since 2014.
Williams missed the 2017 tournament as she was pregnant with her daughter Alexis Jr., who was born on September 1 of that year, and this tournament run has been monumental to watch as she recovered from her pregnancy and related illnesses.
“She’s just getting started, she’s just not match tough”, tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King said.
At the conclusion of the men’s match, Serena Williams will attempt to win an eighth Wimbledon title as she faces Angelique Kerber in a repeat of the 2016 final. After another two months away, she played in the French Open in May, withdrawing in the fourth round with an injured pectoral muscle.
Those words proved to be a near-perfect fit description of Kerber’s deft 6-3, 6-3 dissection of Serena Williams. I tried to enjoy every single moment now. But, Kerber beat Williams earlier that year at the Australian Open. We have to admit that it’s most likely not easy going against one of the best and most publicly known tennis players in the world but today, Angelique proved she’s well on her way to joining Serena at the top in history.
“She’s transcended tennis”, King said.
Unlike Duchess Kate with her signature blowout, Meghan has her hair pinned back in a loose bun, but otherwise they appear to have coordinated their looks nicely. Kerber rebounded from that 2016 Wimbledon loss to win the US Open two months later.
Kerber won the first set 6-3.
The American lacked consistency and finished the set with her 14th unforced error to Kerber’s three. So I don’t get to be with her the full day, but a pretty good chunk out of the day. I’m looking forward to it.
Kerber took the blows, a tennis version of rope-a-dope, content to get balls back over the net and let the match play out from there.
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In an interview after the game, her voice quivering, Williams told mothers that she was playing for them at Wimbledon and they can achieve whatever they want to if they choose to return to work after having a child.
