This time, Serena Williams wouldn’t be denied.
Deprived of a record-tying 22nd grand slam title in the Australian Open and French Open finals this year, Williams got to No. 22 Saturday by defeating a dogged Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-3 in a high-quality Wimbledon final.
It was the same Kerber who beat Williams in Melbourne in January but the world No. 1 turned the tables on the grass at the All England Club with a clinical display of power tennis amid windy conditions.
“I have definitely had some sleepless nights with a lot of stuff, coming so close and feeling it and not being able to get there,” Williams, who was also foiled in her bid to achieve a calendar-year grand slam at last year’s U.S. Open, told reporters.
“This tournament I came in with a different mindset. In Melbourne I thought I played well but Angelique played great, and better. So I knew going into this one I needed to be calm and be confident and play the tennis I’ve been playing for well over a decade.”
She certainly did that.
The 34-year-old struck 39 winners. Williams only faced one break point, at 3-3 in the second, and saved it with one of her 13 aces.
“Of course it feels disappointing, that’s for sure,” Kerber, who finished with a respectable 12 winners and nine unforced errors, told reporters. “But also I know that I played a good final.
“I lost against a really strong Serena today. This makes it a little bit better, that I know that she won the match, not that I lost the match, because she played very well.”
Williams and Kerber’s fellow German Steffi Graf now tally 22 majors, the most in the Open Era of professional tennis. Talk now will surely center on the American attempting to get to Margaret Court’s 24 grand slams, the all-time record. Court was in attendance Saturday.
Williams didn’t want to dwell on the next step up the ladder, especially since she endured struggles to win her 18th major -- tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova -- and the 22nd.
“One thing I learned about last year is to enjoy the moment,” said Williams. “I’m definitely going to enjoy this.”
CNN
