Kerberclinches maidenwimbledon title Djokovic stuns Nadal in enthralling semi-final tie
World No 10 becomes first German since Steffi Graf to win grass Major
LONDON: Angelique Kerber became the first German woman to win Wimbledon in 22 years as the 11th seed shattered Serena Williams’ bid for Grand Slam history with a shock 6-3, 6-3 victory in Saturday’s final.
Kerber avenged her defeat against Williams in the 2016 Wimbledon title match, overwhelming the seven-time champion with a stunning 65-minute upset on Centre Court.
“I knew I had to play my best tennis against a champion like Serena,” Kerber said. “It was my second chance to play in the final. I think I’m the next one after Steffi who won.”
Williams had hoped to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles by winning her first major prize since becoming a mother in September last year.
The 36-year-old, who last won a Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open, went into the final as the title favourite, even though she was playing only the fourth tournament of her post-pregnancy comeback.
But instead Kerber sprang a huge surprise, making her Germany’s first female champion at the All England Club since Steffi Graf in 1996.
“It’s obviously disappointing but I am just getting started,” said an emotional Williams after losing in the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2008. “For all you mums out there I was playing for you. I really tried.”
Kerber had endured a significant slump last year after wining her previous major titles at the Australian and US Opens in 2016.
But, back to her best on grass at Wimbledon, she needed only 11 winners and one ace to deny an oddly nervous Serena, who contributed to her own downfall with a whopping 24 unforced errors, compared to only five from Kerber.
In the first Wimbledon final for 41 years to feature two women 30 or older, Serena was cheered on by her friend the Duchess of Sussex, golf legend Tiger Woods and Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton.
ERROR-STREWN
Winning Wimbledon with Olympia at the tournament with her was supposed to be the crowning glory of her return to the top.
But, foreshadowing the pain to come, Serena’s 30th Grand Slam final got off to a rocky start as she dropped her serve with four unforced errors in the opening game.
She briefly hit back, breaking
to love in the fourth game, but then produced another errorstrewn effort, including two double faults, to gift a 4-3 lead to Kerber.
Although Williams was on a 20-match winning run at Wimbledon and had lost only one set en route to the final, she was completely out of sorts.
Kerber took full advantage, winning four games in a row to wrap up the set. The 11th seed knew what it took to beat Serena in a Grand Slam showpiece after winning their 2016 Australian Open final and kept nagging her away and induced more miscues from the American.
Moments later, Serena’s misery was complete as a tame return left Kerber wiping away tears of joy. LONDON:NOVAK Djokovic reached his fifth Wimbledon final on Saturday with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over Rafael Nadal in the second longest semi-final ever played at the tournament.
Djokovic, who has three Wimbledon titles, will face Kevin Anderson for the title after a 5-hour 15-minute marathon.
Victory on Sunday for the 31-year-old Serb would take his career Slam tally to 13, four behind Nadal but still seven back from Roger Federer.
It was a second day of epic drama at the All England Club after Anderson had needed 6 hours and 36 minutes to beat John Isner on Friday. It also meant that Djokovic and Nadal had been unable to finish their 52nd career clash on Friday with Djokovic leading two sets to one .
Djokovic finished with 23 aces and 73 winners and triumphed despite only converting four of 19 break points. “Until the last shot I didn’t know if I would win. These are matches you live for and work for,” said world No 21 Djokovic, the lowest ranked finalist in 15 years.
Djokovic will take a 5-1 career lead over eight-seed Anderson into the final.
Djokovic could not convert two break points in the opening game of the fourth set. In a rollercoaster, Nadal broke for 5-3 causing Djokovic to angrily smash his racquet into his feet four times. Nadal held his serve in style.
Djokovic wasted another three break points in the eighth game of the decider before Nadal squandered three break points in the 15th game before saving a match point in the 16th with a pitch-perfect drop shot. However, the pressure of serving second was relentless and Djokovic wrapped up victory in the 18th game.