epa05134952 A general view over Rod Laver arena as Angelique Kerber of Germany (R) celebrates her win against Serena Williams of the United States (L) during the womens finals at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 30 January 2016.
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But after the way she played her first six matches here – she never lost a set and beat one opponent in just 44 minutes – everyone expected Serena to win Saturday, add a seventh Australian Open title to her résumé and, more importantly, match Steffi Graf’s record for the most Grand Slam titles in the Open era with 22.
The three-set boilover was not only Williams’ first defeat in seven title matches at Melbourne Park, but also denied the American a place alongside Graf as the most successful women’s player in nearly half a century of professional tennis. “I’ve beaten her a lot”, said Williams, who had a 5-1 record against Kerber before the Melbourne final. “I’m really honored to be in this final and to win it – my dream came true tonight”, said Kerber.
The best two weeks of my life and career.
“My whole life I’ve worked really hard and now I’m here and I can say I’m a Grand Slam champion and it sounds really insane and unbelievable”.
Last summer, Konta was ranked at 147 going in to the English grass-court season, with the best win of her career coming against the world No. 38.
“I was actually really happy for her. She’s been around a really long time”, said Williams.
Born in Germany to Polish parents, Kerber has been a model of consistency throughout the tournament with her win set to propel her to number two in the world behind Williams, from her current six. “I try to win every single time I step out there, every single point, but realistically I can’t do it. Maybe someone else can, but I wasn’t able to do it”. “No. But that is all I could produce today”.
“She told me after that she’s really happy for me and that I really deserved it”, said the German.
Williams came into the match as heavy favourite, having won their past four meetings, but the American endured a nightmare start as 20 unforced errors helped Kerber take a surprise one-set lead. “You know you must play your best tennis”.
But I did think that she would win the 2015 U.S. Open and 2016 Australian Open championships, and the top-ranked women’s player lost in matches in which she was a heavy favorite, so I could be wrong. This is the first big tournament of the year, and I won it, the first Grand Slam. “I hope you will enjoy the victory fully and then go on to many more successes”.
Williams fought back again to get back on serve at 5-4 but Kerber kept fighting and clinched victory with another break when the American put a forehand volley over the baseline.
“I was nervous before the match”.
It means Williams’ tally of majors stays at 21 and the list of Grand Slam champions gets an elated and exuberant newcomer.
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Williams roared back in the second set with some controlled aggression, breaking Kerber early on and hitting the right spots with her serve, the No. 1 seed took the set 6-3 to level the match.
