Serena Williams claimed her 7th Wimbledon title and 22nd Slam overall, matching Steffi Graf’s tally with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s Wimbledon final.
Serena and Angie put on a real show. This was another wonderful women’s final and featured high-quality tennis from the first point to the last. In fact, all three Slam finals this year have been excellent! After the disappointing women’s semi-finals, which received some unfair criticism in the media, i’m CHUFFED we got such a great final played between two champs with genuine respect for each other.
Credit to Kerber who put on a really marvellous display. After saving three break points in her first service game, she was surprisingly secure on serve for the majority of the match. Kerber actually won more points on her second serve compared to her first serve, which is an amazing stat against someone who returns as well as Serena. Kerber produced devilish depth at times and as she has done during this Wimbledon, had a lot of success with her crafty drop shots.
But today was about Serena. The big difference between the Australian Open final and today was the serve. It’s been on it these past few matches and the rhythm was there again for Serena, getting her out of any trouble. Kerber chalked up one break point in the second set but Serena swiftly dismissed it with another ace. Serena produced 13 aces throughout the match; while she won half as many points on the second serve compared to Kerber (39% to 68%), Serena’s first serve was magnificent, dropping just five points behind it.
Another big factor was Serena’s success at the net. The world number one won 16 out of 22 points up at the net (compared to 15 out of 32 net points in Melbourne). Hitting 39 winners to 21 unforced errors, this was a cracking display from Serena and she never really looked back after coming from a set down to beat Christina McHale in the second round.
Kerber played a great match (*that* backhand DTL from way out the court was AMAZING). Serving second in both sets was always going to be tough. She just lost her way in one service game in each set. Two unforced errors in the first set at *5-6 *15-15 was her undoing in the opener. In the second set, Kerber just went off her game with some mis-timed strokes after she missed the break point at 3-3. Serena was so dominant on serve and the pressure on Kerber’s service games was immense. The German player did a fantastic job to hang in there. Once Serena got the break in the second set to go up *5-3 she was never going to let it go, powering her way through the final game.
And the embrace at the net… GOOSEBUMPS.
And the speeches… GOOSEBUMPS.
Congrats, Serena!
#22
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Really enjoyable match…..that serve was the difference,when it is on like in the final,it is so hard to break.Angie had a BP in the 2nd set,again the serve of Serena snuffed it out.
Congrats Serena tying Graff’s record of 22 GS finals…..good luck in the doubles later:)
LikeLike
The serve was not the different, she won at the net. If her serve was the differences why she break Angle twice? And she supposed to protect her serve, that’s what the game is about. Karoline has the most aces on tour, so what is your point. She still lost in straight set with 16 aces. So stop talking rubbish.
LikeLike
Why do you have to be so rude? Please show some respect to others or don’t bother posting in the future.
LikeLike
Serena was winning 90% of the points when she got her first serve in,other commentators also agreed with me regarding Serena’s serve in the final.It had nothing to do with aces etc,.The serve is the most single important point in our game.In my opinion Serena has the best serve in womens tennis period.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Best match I have seen on tour in years. They both played high level tennis at the same time. I wish Kerber plays like this all the time. She only plays great playing Serena and sometimes against Aga. Congratulations to Serena on winning 22 slams. And congratulations to Kerber for showing she is hungry for more slams and cement herself as top 2 player. I hope Kerber doesn’t revert back and keep playing great tennis in every tournament.
LikeLike
They’re the players whose game she respects and is wary of. You will want to include Victoria Azarenka and Sharapova in there. They’ve played some of the most intense matches the past couple of years.
LikeLike
I do loathe folks saying Serena’s serve wins her matches like these as if she’s cheating when there’s no actual reason other women couldn’t serve as well. Its not a gift she was born with, it’s a skill that she mastered.
It was a great match though and Kerber did herself proud.
I’d love to see Serena go on another tear like she did after winning here four years ago. Her naysayers won’t be satisfied to call her the GOAT until she hits 25 and she’s well within reach of that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You make an interesting point, Andrew. I’m more pleased with her tactics this time around. It seems her play with more spin is being lost on observers too. Her net play was also very smart. This has been some of her game changes since Patrick came on board, and her overall productivity/stats/percentages in games won and titles won has been higher than before.
Yes, she has a very effective serve when she chooses to use it, but it’s her mental fortitude which sets her apart and makes her the champion she is. Keys, Lisicki, Babos just to mention a few also have a powerful serve, but it’s Serena who made three Slam finals. I don’t even want to talk about Maria, her serve, and one dimensional play.
At 34 going on 35, I’m wondering if she’s in a mood for a tear. Might depend on how well the Olympic foray goes, A gold medal might ignite her performance at the USOpen, It’s different strokes for different folks with her achievements (always be subjective), but personally for me she has done it in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, GOAT is even irrelevant at this point. The final was good and for that, hats off to both Williams and Kerber!
LikeLike
Anyone who still believes Serena wins often because of her SERVE ONLY should watch Raonic. Raonic has the best serve in Men’s game yet he has no GRAND SLAM.
LikeLike
I’m not rude and I’m speaking facts. And this is your site and I will not post again.
LikeLike
Telling someone to “stop talking rubbish” is not very nice though?! Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion…
LikeLike
Great day for the Williams family!
I loved watching Shvedova and Babos play. Great chemistry, such a joy on the court. I hope both have gained fans from this tournament because they’re both lovely girls and very talented. Did Babos hit the hardest serve in the match at 124mph?
LikeLike
That was a wonderful doubles match! I loved how Timea and Yaroslava were laughing even at the end.
LikeLike
I’m really getting into doubles lately. Some of the pairings this year have been really well made. Bit disappointed to see Garcia & Mladenovic lose so early on, but Pliskova/Goerges and Babos/Shvedova are superb additions to the doubles tour.
LikeLike
I’m thinking it may stay this way now, with Mladenovic and Garcia continuing after the Olympics. I think they’ve made YEC as well.Timea will probably find a new Partner, as in Shvedova.
LikeLike
Thanks for all your reports!
A few thoughts as I was able to watch the final:
– I am not sad about Angie losing because it was a great quality final and the better player just won it. As Angie said: I didn’t lose the match, it was Serena winning it.
– What a great accomplishment for Serena! You could see what it meant for her!!!!
– What a great handshake though?!? As Serena showed her respect in Australia, Angie did the same here.
– Serena should pass Margeret Smith-Court… her opinions are so annoying and literally no one wants to hear them
– Proud of Angie!! She really showed she is the 2nd best player in the world right now. Also, I see the positives: I think it was good for the 2nd half of the year to lose this final. If she had won it, the pressure would have been huge in Germany. But now, she can relax – she did play really really well throughout the fortnight and could carry this form into Olympics and US Open and to Singapore of course!
LikeLike
My pleasure, Murphy! Apologies that your comment wasn’t showing, for some reason it ended up in my spam comments folder! Loved the shared respect between the two finals with different winners, great to see 🙂
LikeLike
Also why on earth was Margaret Court sat right besides BJK and Ellen DeGeneres?!
LikeLike
@Andrewmark, now that Azarenka is pregnant, I think it leaves only Kerber and maybe Radwanska to possibly challenge Serena for number 1 by years end. She will most likely return maybe in a years time. The timing is interesting cause I thought we were approaching peak Vika, but these days 28yrs is the new 18 so she has more time I suppose.
To be frank though, I think Serena will be number one come year’s end.
LikeLike