In a huge upset, the seventh seed, who was born in Bremen to Polish parents, toppled the 34-year-old Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win her first major title and become the first German Grand Slam champion since Graf at the 1999 French Open.
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Having failed to serve out the match a game earlier, Kerber converted after Williams went long, and the American’s dream of achieving the Golden Calendar Slam this year, as well as her eight-match winning streak in Grand Slam finals and six-match winning streak in Australian Open finals, died with it.
Germany’s Angelique Kerber reacts as she opens a bottle of champagne during a photo shoot with her Australian Open trophy at Government House in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. So, honestly, she’s a really good girl.
‘I was just hitting the ball and then her volley went out.
“When I was match point down, I actually had one leg in the plane back to Germany. If I don’t win on Saturday, I’ll still be one off”.
World No 1 Williams had battered five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals. Right on the heels of tying tennis legend Steffi Graf’s 22 major title wins, Williams, the No. 1 rank, fell short to Kerber, who is No. 6. 11 days later, she was lying on her back on the Rod Laver Arena court in disbelief as the Australian Open champion.
As Kerber celebrated her magical breakthrough, Williams was left to lament another opportunity lost after succumbing to suffocating pressure for the second straight slam.
The German played majestically in the decider’s marathon sixth game, taking Williams’s serve on her fifth break point to move to a 5-2 lead. But Serena answers with a sharp angle, only for the German to outdo her with a handsome backhand, en route to a break and 2-1 lead.
She’ll also surge to a new career-high ranking of No. 2 now, behind, of course, Williams.
And with a great big smile on her face, Kerber followed Williams to the podium.
“I think I did the best I could today”, Williams said. “You played the best in the tournament”. I was trying really to enjoy the atmosphere.
Williams has dominated tennis across three generations, seeing off a dozen different rivals in grand slam finals over a remarkable 16-year stretch.
“I took my second chance to play the final against Serena. My whole life I was working really hard and now I’m here I can say I am a Grand Slam champion, it sounds so insane”. But, yes, of course I would like to play her again in a final. “I have so many emotions, so many thoughts, but all of them good ones”.
Kerber, self-effacing and often down on herself for no logical reason, appreciated a post-match chat with the player she had just dethroned. In Melbourne, she lost the chance to equal Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slams, coincidentally stopped by her compatriot.
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“I know that I got so many messages, I know that I will make a lot of media and press when I get back”, she said.
