However, Serena recalled a match against Kerber nearly two years ago in which the German shocked the world No. 1 in Cincinnati.
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That loss, however, also appears to have helped her deal with expectations and she no longer puts that pressure upon herself.
“Everyone expects me to win every single match, every single day of my life”, Serena Williams said in an interview according to the Guardian, “And as much as I would like to be a robot, I’m not”.
“Given where she was before the tournament with those injuries at the Hopman Cup and the fact that she hadn’t played since she lost to Vinci in the semi-final of the US Open, I think it’s been a great run”.
“I was just able to call my mom, my parents, my grandparents, and that’s it”, Kerber said.
Explaining her approach to facing top-seeded Serena, Kerber said it was all about being a positive.
Though the German entered the title match as the sixth-ranked player in the world, not many were particularly hopeful in regards to her upset chances.
“The feeling I have I think it’s more proud, proud about my team, my family, my friends”, Kerber said.
She added: “No, I was actually really happy for her. She’s been around a really long time”. “I try to really enjoy every moment, what’s happened right now, taking all the experience with me”.
“I think it’s so good also for Germany, for German tennis”. And just believe in myself.
But Kerber built a 2-0 lead in the third set, and after Williams caught up to 2-all, Kerber raced out to a 5-2 lead.
Graf also gave her advice, which she is trying to live by. According to ABC News, she made this point clear.
However, by producing superb defence along the baseline chasing down Williams’ blistering groundstrokes and forcing the American to play one extra shot, she proved the 21-times grand slam victor was fallible.
Azarenka was the front-runner to challenge Serena Williams, the number one in the world, before her shocking loss to Kerber.
Not a great volleyer nor possessing a great transition game, Williams perhaps due to her errors off the ground chose to frequently attack the net, many times with hit-and-hope approach shots.
Twenty-three unforced errors from Williams to the German’s three told the story of the first set, which Kerber wrapped up in 39 minutes.
“My dream came true tonight”, the emotional seventh seed said at the on-court presentation. I worked for this my whole life.
“Andy, you should be in bed”, the older sibling said with the match ending at closer to 1am on Sunday morning and only 18 hours for Andy to rest having already been denied the luxury of more time to recover with a five set marathon over Milos Raonic on Friday. And such a champion @serenawilliams being just as gracious in defeat.
Williams, who had limited preparation for the Australian Open due to a knee problem, admitted to pre-match nerves on Rod Laver Arena and they were probably for good reason.
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Heading into the Australian Open, the big question was whether anyone could beat Williams, the defending champion going for her seventh win at Melbourne Park.
