Germany's Angelique Kerber beat Serena Williams in a three-set
thriller (6-4, 3-6, 6-4) at the Australian Open on Saturday to deny the
world number one a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title.
The 34-year-old American had been seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title and 22nd overall, which would have moved her into a tie with Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era.
The seventh seeded Kerber, however, was not overawed by the occasion of her first final, breaking twice in the first set to take it in 39 minutes as Williams made 23 unforced errors.
Williams cut down on the errors to send it into a third, which Kerber, who had the opportunity to serve it out while leading 5-3 only for the American to battle back, clinched when Williams hit a volley long in the following game.
Kerber becomes the first German to win one of the four major tournaments since Graf won her last title at the French Open in 1999.
Read more: Sport - Germany’s Kerber stuns Williams to lift Australian Open title - France 24
The 34-year-old American had been seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title and 22nd overall, which would have moved her into a tie with Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era.
The seventh seeded Kerber, however, was not overawed by the occasion of her first final, breaking twice in the first set to take it in 39 minutes as Williams made 23 unforced errors.
Williams cut down on the errors to send it into a third, which Kerber, who had the opportunity to serve it out while leading 5-3 only for the American to battle back, clinched when Williams hit a volley long in the following game.
Kerber becomes the first German to win one of the four major tournaments since Graf won her last title at the French Open in 1999.
Read more: Sport - Germany’s Kerber stuns Williams to lift Australian Open title - France 24
No comments:
Post a Comment