Angelique Kerber and Novak Djokovic had something in common on Saturday at Wimbledon, other than each bringing down a legend.
Like Djokovic in his conquering of Rafa Nadal, Kerber was like a human dynamo in her conquest of Serena Williams. Kerber was everywhere, always reaching out for the almost unreachable ball. And the German left-hander succeeded most of the time in getting her racket on such balls.
THE SCORE WAS REAL
Serena could only hit another one, then watch Angelique virtually fly across the court to reach another one. The end results were usually the same. Either Kerber would hit a winner past the sometimes stationary Williams or Serena would get to the ball and commit an error.
The 6-3, 6-3 verdict in Kerber’s favor didn’t misrepresent this Wimbledon women’s final. Kerber owned Serena on this day.
ONE MORE SLAM TO GO
Amazing, isn’t it? Kerber is only a French Open crown away from wearing a career Grand Slam.
A few more outings like the one on Centre Court on Saturday, and Kerber might become a legend of her own.
The left-handed Angel(ique). She can really play this game.
And now she’s 30 years old. If it weren’t for players such as the 36-year-old Serena and 38-year-old Venus Williams along with the 32-year-old Nadal, 36-year-old Roger Federer, 31-year-old Djokovic and 32-year-old Kevin Anderson, someone might say that Kerber is nearing the end of her career.
But don’t count on it. Kerber certainly wasn’t slow, weak or inconsistent in this Wimbledon final, or any of the qualities that might be identified with an athlete in the twilight of his or her career.
DON’T FORGET CHARLESTON
Kerber now has won the Australian Open, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon . . . and the Family Circle Cup (now the Volvo Car Open).
Yes, I’m from Charleston, and I couldn’t help but wonder even then back in 2015 why this young woman had not made her mark in a Grand Slam. At the time, she had not even reached a Grand Slam final.
Just like that, in 2016 she reached the final of every Slam except the French while winning the Australian Open and U.S. Open titles. She’s been kind of quiet since then, finally making the Australian semifinals this year.
She entered Wimbledon ranked 10th in the world, and leaves ranked in the top five.
Angelique Kerber is still for real.
—
James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his Post and Courier columns at
