By Ricky Dimon
Just like that, the heartbreak endured at the three most recent Grand Slam tournaments, including losses of two finals, was erased by Serena Williams on Saturday afternoon at the All-England Club. Serena avenged an Australian Open setback against Angelique Keber by beating the German 7-5, 6-3 for the Wimbledon title.
The world No. 1, who now owns 22 major singles titles, got the job done in one hour and 21 minutes.
“More than anything I think it was a really good and exciting win for me today,” Williams explained. “I think it was a great final. [Kerber] played really well. We had a lot of long, tough points. I think every single point I worked for, and nothing was given to me. It made for a really good match.”
How good is good? Well, Kerber lost despite committing a mere nine unforced errors. Even by the extremely liberal and generous standards of the Wimbledon statisticians, that is an impressively low number. As for Serena, she fired 39 winners–including 13 aces–compared to 21 errors. The top-seeded American saved a break point in the seventh game of the second set with an ace and delivered a love service hold at 5-3 to clinch victory.
“I think [it] is just the ability to turn up my level and turn up my game when I need to in crunch time,” Serena said when asked about the qualities that allow her to be such a strong closer of matches. “I think I was able to do that today.”
“I think I played what I could today,” Kerber assessed. “I can just say Serena was serving unbelievable. At the end I was trying everything, but she deserved it. She really played an unbelievable match. I think we both [played at] a really high level. I [tried] everything. I mean, I think I was not the one who [lost] the match; I think she won the match.”
The same can be said of the doubles final, in which Serena and Venus Williams completely took the rackets out of the hands of yet another opposing team. The Williams sisters were broken only once while overpowering Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes.
Serena and Venus extended their unbelievable record in slam finals to 14-0, with six of their titles coming at Wimbledon.
As for Serena in singles, she is an amazing 22-6 lifetime in major title matches. A rare losing streak, during which she lost to Kerber in Melbourne and to Garbine Muguruza at last month’s French Open on the heels of a semifinal stunner against Roberta Vinci at the 2015 U.S. Open, is now a thing of the past.
Topics: 10sballs.com, All England Club, Angelique Kerber, Doubles tennis, Grass tennis, Ricky Dimon, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, The Championships, Venus Williams, Wimbledon 2016, Wimbledon final, Wta
RT @10sBalls_com: Too Good: #Serena Beats #Kerber For #Wimbledon Singles Title, & Wins Doubles With #Venus
https://t.co/ZQfHHtnWbd https://…
RT @10sBalls_com: Too Good: #Serena Beats #Kerber For #Wimbledon Singles Title, & Wins Doubles With #Venus
https://t.co/ZQfHHtnWbd https://…