When Serena Williams’ volley sailed long, Angelique Kerber’s life changed forever. She ascended to world #2 and picked up her first grand slam title. She also become one of four women to defeat Serena Williams in a slam final, and the first to do it over the course of three sets. Kerber has been sort of an unsung WTA hero in the past couple of years, being in nearly every great match that has occurred during that time period. Examples in the last year include her Stanford victory against Agnieszka Radwanska and her narrow loss to Victoria Azarenka at the US Open.
This is what changed for Angelique Kerber but what about the rest of the tennis world?
Angelique Kerber: A WTA Hero
While this loss is definitely a sting to Williams, who is still trying to tie Steffi Graf’s 22 grand slam titles and potentially Margaret Court’s 24, this result ultimately brings life back into the WTA tour. There is no question that Serena’s willpower and unmatched skill are the reasons she is so successful today, she won so much in the previous year without even having to produce her best tennis. She did not bring her best tennis to the final against Kerber and unfortunately for her, The German was getting to every ball and returning it with interest.
What this loss proves is that Serena , while one of if not the greatest player of all time, is still human. She cannot replicate flawless performances match after match as a machine would. Kerber came out onto Rod Laver Arena believing this and believing she could take down Serena. By doing this, she defied nearly all the odds to lift up the trophy following the match. This is a reminder of that message that Serena is not unbeatable. Kerber’s heroic efforts will leave a positive vibe in the locker room; this positive vibe will encourage other players to step up against Serena and carry the belief that Kerber did to produce their best tennis against the all-time great.
In turn, this is blessing in disguise for Serena. If players start approaching Serena with a greater belief that they can beat her, this will only motivate her to even greater heights to raise the level of play during her matches. Throughout 2015, many of her opponents did not challenge Serena enough to force her to play her best tennis. Kerber’s victory will encourage those players to get better and bring out their best tennis against her. In addition, Serena also proved that she is a much better sport than her detractors give her credit for, embracing and congratulating Kerber for her triumph.
And overall, with even more lessons learned following this Australian Open, it is pretty much guaranteed that Serena will come back even stronger and hungrier to learn from this loss. Great champions learn more from their defeats than from their victories. As well as being a WTA hero, Kerber is a hero to Serena as well; she reminded Serena that there is always room for improvement.
So in the long-term, this will prove to be beneficial to all parties in the future; to Serena Williams, to the rest of the tour, and especially for Kerber, the WTA hero!
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