Serena Williams made yet another mark on history, defeating to Venus Williams 6-4 6-4 to earn her 23rd career Grand Slam title, an open era record surpassing the legendary Steffi Graf. The American #1, now 35, has earned seven of those Grand Slam titles against big sister Venus. The lower ranked Sister was a heavy underdog entering the match (with an 11-16 h2h record against Serena), but put up a confident effort none the less.
The sisters both started their match with shaky serving, as they both broke serve twice for 2-2 in the first set. It was Serena who found her serve first though, breaking one last time in the first, and then holding with ease to earn a one set lead in just 41 minutes.
In a cagey second set, Venus continued to fight valiantly, but Serena’s power and control overwhelmed her. Facing three break points in her second service game of the set, and three more in her fourth, Venus was finally broken to go down 3-4 and find her back against the wall. Serena was unrelenting in applying pressure on Venus serve, and went on to serve with confidence. When Venus grabbed her shoulder late in the second set, that was the final sign that Serena had victory in her sights.
Serena then closed the match out in rather routine fashion, despite a fantastic rally in the last game won by Venus. Neither player performed up to their highest level, particularly on serve, both showed signs of frustration, but in the end, Serena continued to show why she’s the preeminent force in women’s tennis, and arguably the greatest player in the sport’s history. Serena will return to world #1 when the new rankings come out.
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