By Daily Sports on January 30, 2016

Angelique Kerber had the support of the crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. After just more than two hours on court, she also had the Australian Open title.

Kerber defeated No. 1 Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It is Kerber’s first Grand Slam title, and the first for a German player in this century.

Kerber, who at 28 and in her 14th year on tour was playing in her first Grand Slam final, opened the match by breaking the 21-time champion’s serve, then held to put Williams in a 2-0 hole. She left too many shots suspended in Kerber’s reach, and Kerber placed winners just inside the lines.

Williams showed vintage form in the second, playing the aggressive style that had helped her advance this far without dropping a set in the fortnight. The match went to a deciding third.

The crowd went wild as Kerber broke Williams in the first game of the set. There was far less applause when Williams broke right back.

It was odd to hear the stadium so in favor of Kerber. Australian tennis fans are famous for loving the underdog – but Williams has long said this is a stadium where she feels the most love.

Williams told the press Thursday that she was surprised to be playing in the final here. After winning this and two other major titles last year, she took four months off from the sport to recover from a crushing loss in the U.S. Open semifinals. She expected to have a slow start, she said. Yet she didn’t drop a set en route to the final.

The deciding game came with Kerber leading 3-2 in the third. The first-time finalist built a 40-love advantage on Williams’ serve. Williams fought all the way back to deuce, then took the advantage. But she failed to close it out. It went back to deuce five times.

The entire stadium now seemed to be in Kerber’s corner. Still, when Williams double-faulted to give Kerber another advantage, there was silence more than celebration. Perhaps it was confusion. Williams double-faulted three times in the set. That point was one of the most important in the match. Kerber took the 4-2 lead on the next point. She held to 5-2.

Williams refused to go down quietly. With Kerber serving for the match, Williams broke in five points. If she held serve, she’d push the match to 5-all. She let Kerber have the first two points, then rattled off three straight. It went to deuce. Kerber was two points from closing out the match. Kerber earned advantage as Williams shanked a forehand into the net. And on the next point, she did what many had thought was impossible.

Kerber had come within one point of being knocked out in the first round here. Her quarterfinal win over Victoria Azerenka marked the first time she’d ever beaten Vika. Now she was champion.

“I had really crazy two weeks,” she said after the match. “This is the first big tournament of the year, and I won it, the first Grand Slam. It sounds crazy, but I can say I’m a Grand Slam champion now.”

Had Williams won, she would have been even with Steffi Graf at the top of all-time titles in the Open Era. She has been at 21 titles since winning at Wimbledon last year. As soon as it ended, she walked to Kerber’s side of the net and offered a hug, managing to look genuinely happy for Kerber. They walked halfway off the court with Williams’ arm linked around Kerber’s back.

“I was actually really happy for her,” Williams said later. “She played so well today. She had an attitude that I think a lot of people can learn from: just to always stay positive and to never give up. I was really inspired by that. So honestly, she's a really good girl. If I couldn’t win, I’m happy she did.” (Yahoo! Sport)

•Photo of Serena Williams in action courtesy of AFP/Jewel Samad.

Source Daily Sports

Posted January 30, 2016

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