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 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 also came within two matches of achieving 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. She 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 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 no doubt center on the American attempting to get to Margaret Court’s 24 grand slams, the all-time record. Court was in attendance Saturday.
Williams could pick up more silverware later Saturday when she teams up with older sister Venus — a loser to Kerber in the semifinals — in the women’s doubles final. Her sibling, in the player box along with Beyonce and Jay Z Saturday, remains the lone player to beat Williams twice in grand slam finals.
The first point of the women’s finale whetted the appetite: After a lengthy exchange, Kerber struck a winning forehand.
Superb entertainment ensued for fans on Centre Court and the millions watching around the world as Kerber attempted to neutralize Williams’ power.
Kerber saved three break points in her opening service game. She would often be scampering side to side in the match dealing with Williams’ drives.
Williams, a great mover like Kerber, took a slight tumble at 4-4 but was unhurt.
Just when it looked like a tiebreak beckoned, Kerber, fatally, made two unforced errors at 5-6, 15-all, both times in — commendably — attempting to hit aggressive shots.
On a second set point Williams forced an error to grab a crucial one-set lead: Williams has never lost a final at a major when winning the first.
The fourth seed won what was arguably the point of the contest in the fourth game of the second when she crushed a backhand from well outside the doubles alley down the line.
At 3-3, not only did Williams produce the ace on break point but she hit another ace to earn a game point. Seeing that chance dissipate, Kerber was broken in the next game and Williams held to love to close out the one hour, 21-minute affair.
After coming up with a winning volley on match point, Williams fell backward onto the grass. Williams and Kerber then exchanged a long hug to cap an enthralling battle.
“I just said to her, ‘Congrats,’ and that she’s a champion,” said Kerber.
Indeed. And not just any champion.
