It was a tightly drawn match from start to finish, but Serena Williams outgunned Angelique Kerber in straight sets to win her seventh Wimbledon title – a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.
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Williams had been stuck on 21 Grand Slams since winning previous year s Wimbledon, but the American star ended that frustrating barren spell to retain the title and draw level with Steffi Graf s Open era record.
The 34-year-old, whose elder half-sister Yetunde Price died in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 2003, was asked about the violence back home shortly after winning her seventh Wimbledon singles crown and 22nd grand slam singles title.
Williams had lost her previous two Grand Slam finals earlier this year, falling to Kerber at the Australian Open and Garbine Muguruza at the French Open.
She has flatly refused to discuss it at this year’s championships, on one occasion testily telling reporters: “I’m not talking about that anymore”.
The 71st singles title of Williams astonishing career also moved her within two of Martina Navratilova s all-time record of nine Wimbledon triumphs. Her sibling, in the player box along with Beyonce and Jay Z Saturday, remains the lone player to down Williams twice in grand slam finals.
Williams had revenge on the mind after losing to Kerber in January’s Australian Open final.
Serena Williams has won Wimbledon, reaching another milestone as one of tennis’ greatest players.
After Williams failed to convert on three break points in Kerber’s first service game, they played even-with many highlights-until Williams broke serve to close out the set. Kerber has not dropped a set, and impressively outgunned Williams’ sister Venus in the semis.
Despite a valiant effort from Kerber, Williams simply had too much firepower for her opponent on the day.
Williams now equals Steffi Graf in terms of titles in the Open era.
But a pair of costly errors from Kerber, serving to stay in the set at 6-5, gave the defending champion the first break of the match to take the opening set.
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That earned Williams a $10,000 fine, but perhaps it pointed her in the right direction. Williams was unafraid to charge the net behind her approaches, a tactic that helped shorten the points. She won 38 of 43 first-serve points.
