Melbourne: After all the advice that Steffi Graf gave her, Angelique Kerber was able to return a favor to the retired champion on Saturday.
Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era is intact — for now — after Kerber staged a stunning upset of No.1-ranked Serena Williams to win her first major at the Australian Open.
It means Serena’s tally of majors stays at 21 and the list of Grand Slam champions gets an elated and exuberant newcomer.
“This is the first big tournament of the year, and I won it, the first Grand Slam. It sounds crazy, but I can say I’m a Grand Slam champion now,” said Kerber, who was in a final for the first time in 33 major tournaments. She was still wide-eyed and in disbelief two hours after beating Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a tense and often riveting two-hour, eight-minute match.
The win will elevate Kerber to a career-high ranking of No.2. She was seeded seventh in this tournament.
It also makes her the first German woman to win the Australian Open since Graf in 1994 and the first German to win a Grand Slam since Graf’s final win before retiring in 1999 at the French Open.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quick to send congratulations. “With this victory you have not only fulfilled your own biggest dream but also, once again 17 years after Steffi Graf, the hopes of millions of tennis fans of a German winning the Grand Slam tournament,” Merkel said in a statement.
Heading into the Australian Open, the big question was whether anyone could beat Serena, the defending champion going for her seventh win at Melbourne Park. A few names were tossed around, but not Kerber’s.
Serena was not at her best. But Kerber chased everything down, ripped ferocious cross-court winners and took a lot of risks.
In the sixth game of the third set, which went over 10 minutes, she was a game point down and produced a beautiful backhand drop shot from the baseline that drew roars and applause.
