But Serena was surprisingly beaten by Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals last September, then by Kerber in Melbourne, and by Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final last month.
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More importantly, for the second time this year she finally has the opportunity to draw level with Graff on most Grand Slams won. Kerber had 2 aces to 0 for Williams. “I just feel more relaxed and more at peace than I may have been in the past”, said Serena ahead of the final.
On conquering her nerves in a colossally important final: “I think I’ve been training my mind for years and years, and I’ve been preparing for these moments for decades”. “For me, it’s about, obviously, holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me”.
“But I saw a little, little opening and it was enough”. I’m not going to change anything about that and I know that right from the start I have to get Serena moving.
Serena can walk away with two trophies, not just won.
Meanwhile, Williams is adamant that she will not be satisfied unless she comes out on top on Centre Court this weekend.
But the set was over in 28 minutes courtesy of Williams’s seventh ace.
Despite those setbacks, she has looked back to her best at Wimbledon.
The day before Kerber faced Williams in Australia, she checked her phone during a press conference and saw a message of congratulations from Graf. “I don’t think I would deserve to be paid less because of my sex, or anyone else for that matter in any job”. “She was stronger, faster”.
And what exactly is “herself”? She has a great engine, is a lefty and will force Williams to play heavy ground strokes or she will return them. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore”, she said.
Defeat ended a 100 per cent record in Wimbledon singles semi-finals for Williams, after eight previous successes.
Williams defeated Elena Vesnina in the semifinals, while Kerber advanced to the final by beating Serena’s sister, Venus.
“I made a lot of errors”. The American looked tired, hitting too many errors off the forehand wing and not getting much venom on her serve. Kerber suddenly shifts gears, winning three consecutive games to reach set point entering the eighth game.
I feel good. I felt great in other tournaments, as well.
“To beat Venus in the semi-finals.it’s always a tough match against her”. “Let’s be real, I’m guessing it’s a combination of fatigue and her freezing. She was fearless. That’s something I learned”, Serena said of that final. “It was inspiring afterwards to realize there [are] a lot of things that I need to improve on”.
Mouratoglou is not putting too much weight on that match going into the next one. Your match today was very quick compared to, say, the five-setters yesterday of the men.
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But trying to protect that record will be fellow German Kerber, a player who idolised Graf when she was growing up.
