Serena falls to Kerber in final at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams will not be the fourth mother in the Open era of tennis to win a Grand Slam title, at least not at this year’s Wimbledon.
The 36-year-old Williams was unable to find her timing against the talented southpaw Angelique Kerber, who dominated their Wimbledon final 6-3, 6-3 to win her third Grand Slam trophy in just 65 minutes Saturday.
“It was such an amazing tournament for me,” said Williams, who was choked up after the match. “I was really happy to get this far. It’s obviously disappointing, but I can’t be disappointed because there’s so much to look forward to. To all the moms out there I was playing for you today, and I tried.”
Williams, who was looking to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, was playing in her first major final since giving birth to daughter, Alexis Olympia, last September. She won her 23rd Grand Slam title while pregnant at the 2017 Australian Open, which was the last tournament she played until Indian Wells in March of this year.
Kerber tumbled to the court and put her hand over her mouth in disbelief at how swiftly the victory came. In a move of great sportsmanship, Williams went over to Kerber’s side of the court and embraced the new Wimbledon champion.
The German, who made only five unforced errors to 24 for Williams, then went up to her player’s box to hug everyone, and where her mother was in tears.
“It’s just a dream come true,” said Kerber, telling Williams she is an inspiration to all the moms in the world. “You will have your next Grand Slam, and you will have it soon I am sure.”
Kerber, the first German woman to win at Wimbledon since Steffi Graf won her last time here in 1996, was spot-on to near perfection in the match.
The German was in control from the time they stepped out on the court. While she remained focused throughout, marking her time until she found the right moment to become aggressive, Williams became anxious and was going for too much at the wrong moments.
This was only Williams’s fourth tournament back from maternity leave and she now has a 11-3 record in matches played since returning.
This was a repeat encounter of the 2016 final, which marked the last time Williams played at Wimbledon.
On that occasion, Williams was the victor, posting revenge for the loss in the 2016 Australian Open final, which marked Kerber’s first Grand Slam victory.
Kerber also won the 2016 U.S. Open title, which made her the fourth player in the Open era to reach three Grand Slam finals in the same year she reached her first Grand Slam final. The others to achieve that feat were Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1071, Steffi Graf in 1987 and Martina Hingis in 1997.