New world #2 Angelique Kerber stunned world #1 Serena Williams 6-4 3-6 6-4 to win an Australian Open final full of twist and turns that went over 2 hours.
Kerber, who had never before advanced past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, raced out to a 3-1 lead in the first set, and though Serena would recover from her sloppy start to get back to 3 all, she found herself broken again right away, and Kerber would hold with ease twice more to take the first set 6-4.
Serena found her footing in set two, finally finding a way to handle the Kerber down the line forehand and taking her own 3-1 lead, one that she wouldn’t surrender, not even giving Kerber a chance at break point as she held the rest of the way for 6-3.
In the third, the veteran 21-time Grand Slam Champion was a heavy favorite against the younger Kerber, who also trailed Serena in head to head matches. Serena once more faltered at the start of the set though, as Kerber broke, was broken back, but then broke again for a 4-2 lead in the longest game of the match. The 4-2 game featured five break point chances for Kerber, as Serena finally tossed in more errors to give it away.
Kerber failed to serve out the match 5-3 up, but she once more stood tall against Serena and broke on match point for a 6-4 final set, and a satisfying maiden Grand Slam title. Kerber was clearly overwhelmed after her win, as she made both Germany, and Poland proud with her triumph.
Kerber has now put herself in the top tier of WTA players to watch in 2016 and launched herself to stardom. Serena loses out at the start for a shot at the calendar year Grand Slam, but still has three more chances to get to slam title #22 in 2016. The serve, and an error filled match under pressure was her downfall on the day.
The comeback kid Kerber didn’t drop a set en route to the final, after scraping by her first round match in three sets.
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