KERBER CAN CAUSE A RIGHT ROYAL UPSET
Serena will have Meghan and Kate cheering her on but...
ANGElIqUE Kerber went out for dinner with her family in Wimbledon town on Thursday after reaching the final — then caught the No 93 bus home to her lodgings.
There is nothing Hollywood about the 30-year- old German, who has never been the type to indulge in the chauffeur- driven transport she could easily demand or afford.
She will provide a resolutely down- to- earth presence for what is likely to be an extremely glamorous occasion this afternoon.
Gone from the Royal Box will be the likes of first-week invites Tess Daly and Phil Tufnell, to be replaced by the two Duchesses Kate and Meghan, making their first appearance together without their husbands.
Royalty or commoner, everyone present on Centre Court will be coming to see whether Williams can complete what has inevitably been described as the mother of all comebacks.
Only 10 months after such a problematic time giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia, the 36-year- old American is going for a 24th Grand Slam singles title, equalling the tally of Margaret Court.
However great the Australian was, there is no comparison between the two. Court snaffled some of hers before supersonic jet travel transformed tennis — became like jumping on a bus, in fact — and consequently the fields were nothing like as international as the ones Williams has faced.
It would be wrong, however, to assume that this will be a simple coronation.
Kerber has shown before that she can create problems for the American, and en route to the final she has demonstrated what a rugged customer she is.
The left-hander of German and Polish heritage is steeped in the game, and spent some of her childhood living in a flat at the clubhouse of the tennis facility in Kiel where her parents used to coach.
Despite that, she was a relatively late developer, not breaking into the top 10 until she was 24, and not winning the first of her two Grand Slams until she was 28.
That, notably, came against Serena at the 2016 Australian Open, where she beat Britain’s Jo Konta in the semi-final and then produced a performance of remarkable composure to create what was seen as a huge upset. Six months later, she lost to the American in a competitive Wimbledon final, then went and won the US Open. Australia was no fluke.
Williams will be sure not to underestimate an opponent whose main assets are her lightning speed around the back court and her consistency. She will not mind doing plenty of running and will try to ask her older opponent to do the same.
In addition, Kerber is unlikely to be overawed. Her progress to the final has seen her handle the pressure of playing a selection of the best young players in the women’s game.
Some older players do not relish facing exciting opponents of a younger vintage, but she has seen off one after another: Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko.
Perhaps her best hope today is to force Williams into a third set and test her stamina. It will be her fourth match in six days, and this is where a lack of matches coming into Wimbledon may tell.
Yet there is no doubt Williams has prepared very seriously for this tournament and a measure of how much planning has gone into it is the gagging order she has put on her normally talkative coach Patrick Mouratoglou over the fortnight.
It was during the French Open that he was telling anyone who would listen that mounting a proper challenge for Wimbledon was the medium-term goal. He has been forced to keep his counsel since.
Prior to the First World War, three women won Wimbledon as mothers, but it has happened only once since — when Australia’s 29-year- old Evonne Goolagong took the title in 1980.
Parent or not, winning the women’s singles title at 36 would be quite something.