Serena annexes Australian Open

The younger Williams sister won in straight sets 6-4 6-4

Serena Williams had said before the Australian Open final that “nothing can break our family” and not even sisterly love could get in the way of the 35-year-old American’s relentless assault on the sport’s history books.

By beating her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4, Serena took her tally of Grand Slam singles titles to 23, which eclipses Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 and leaves her just one short of Margaret Court’s alltime tally.

Serena, who will also reclaim the world No 1 ranking from Angelique Kerber next week, was not always at her best in what was often a curiously subdued contest but she still had too much for her 36-year-old sister, who was playing in her first Grand Slam final for eight years.

Playing your sister on a global stage has often seemed an uncomfortable experience for both women, though plenty of their matches have been memorable for all the right reasons. Their previous meeting, 16 months ago in the quarter-finals of the US Open, had been a thrilling match in which both players held nothing back.

This, however, was different. Against any other opponent Serena in particular regularly shows her emotions, clenching her fist in celebration of winners and driving herself forward with screams of “Come on!” Here, though, she appeared reluctant to let it all hang out as her face remained almost expressionless for most of the match.

Venus tends to be less vocal on court, but on this occasion she was especially subdued, barely showing any signs of emotion from one point to the next and greeting winners and errors with the same reaction.

From the start it was evident that the crowd in Rod Laver Arena were behind Venus. After all her success over the years at this tournament Serena is a popular figure here, but her sister’s remarkable story has captured the imagination of the Australian public. When Venus was diagnosed with an incurable auto-immune disease six years ago few could have imagined that she would ever play in a Grand Slam final again.

The early stages were especially flat as both women struggled to find their range on serve. The first four games all went against serve and Serena’s frustrations were evi- dent in the third game when she smashed her racket on the court surface – for which she received a code violation – after slipping when wrong-footed.

Venus was the first to hold serve, for a 3-2 lead, but two games later she was broken again when Serena cracked a backhand winner down the line. The younger sister was beginning to find a better rhythm on serve and closed out the first set after 41 minutes with two successive aces.

At 1-1 in the second set Venus held serve from 0-40 down to a huge roar from the crowd. The set went with serve until Venus served at 3-3, when Serena suddenly stepped up the pace. Venus saved another break point with a service winner, but on the next two points Serena hammered huge returns to take a 4-3 lead. AGENIES