THE number of people who truly believed that Angelique Kerber could beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open final last night could probably have been counted on the fingers of one hand. If you’re just hoping, you can’t win against her. That was my game plan: “serving good, moving good and just going for it. It works”.
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From the first point, it was clear that unlike many opponents who have tried to take on Williams in recent times, Kerber believed she had a fighter’s chance.
It was the first time Williams has lost in eight Australian Open finals and the 21-time major champion was well below-par, making 46 unforced errors, more than double the amount of any of her previous rounds.
She was still wide-eyed and in disbelief two hours after beating Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a tense and often riveting 2-hour, 8-minute match.
“You know, when I won the first set, when I won against Azarenka, that showed me that I really am a good player and I can show it as well on the big courts”, she said.
Djokovic took a 2-0 lead when he held his opening service game after saving a break point, then watched as Murray double-faulted to give him a break in the next game. “I think it’s still tough to beat Serena”. But Serena answers with a sharp angle, only for the German to outdo her with a lovely backhand, en route to a break and 2-1 lead.
“I was nervous before the match”, Williams said.
She can also expect a warm reception from her home country after she became the first German since her childhood idol Steffi Graf to clinch a grand slam, prompting congratulations from sportspeople and the country’s president Angela Merkel. It was her sixth mixed doubles final in a Grand Slam tournament, and her first win.
Somewhere in Las Vegas, Graf would doubtless have been cheering her on and Germany’s greatest ever player, who had been in contact with Kerber throughout the event, wishing her well, sent her a congratulatory text soon after.
Gone midnight and Angelique Kerber was conducting yet another interview after the biggest win of her career. “If I don’t win on Saturday, I’ll still be one off”.
Williams has previously said that a cut foot and blood clot on her lung that nearly cost her career, and life, five years ago had helped her reassess, while in the last 12 months she has also recognised she is in the twilight of her career. She kept hitting some great shots actually every time I came in, ‘ Williams said. “My dream was always to win a grand slam and my second dream was to be No1”. She would refuse to be pushed behind the baseline, and plays with her usual aggression. They will challenge all the good players.
“My whole life I was working really hard, and now I’m here, and I can say I’m a Grand Slam champion, and it sounds really insane”.
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She then went for her official trophy photos at a nearby park and gardens. “She just told me she was happy for me and that I really deserved it. It means a lot to me to hear this from the world No1”.
