WIMBLEDON – Serena Williams wasn’t able to capture her first Wimbledon title as a mother and eighth overall. Williams was also looking to tie Margaret Court’s all-time record with 24 Grand Slam titles, a feat that the American is now hoping to achieve at the US Open in a couple of months.
22 years after her childhood hero Steffi Graf, Angie Kerber of Germany lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time on Saturday. This is Grand Slam title No. 3 for the German, who also won the Australian Open and US Open in 2016. “I always dreamt of this moment, Wimbledon is the tournament that everybody would like to win… I was only the No. 11 seed, and nobody expected me to win,” Kerber said in her post-match press conference.
Serena was certainly disappointed but showed incredible grace in defeat: “It’s been a happy story for me anyway, I would only change the ending,” Serena said with a big smile on her face. Williams was competing in only her fourth tournament after giving birth to her daughter Olympia last September.
Many picked Serena as the clear favourite to capture the title, especially after the American disposed of her previous opponents with relative ease throughout the tournament. Kerber had other plans though and played an impeccable match, upsetting Williams 63, 63 in 65 minutes.
The women’s final had a delayed start due to the resuming of the second men’s semifinal that was suspended on Friday night. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal took the court at 1 PM with the Serb leading 2 sets to 1. Since the match had started with the roof closed on Friday, the tournament organizers decided that it had to continue in the same indoor conditions. Such decision apparently didn’t please Nadal. “This is an outdoor tournament, not an indoor tournament,” Nadal briefly dismissed the topic in his post-match press conference.
It was an incredible match anyway, probably the best of the tournament. The two superstars battled for a total of 5 hours and 15 minutes, with Nadal failing to capitalize on two break-points at 4-4 and three more break-points at 7-7 in the fifth and final set. The final score was 64 36 76 (9) 36 10-8 in Djokovic’s favor.
It was a great show that captivated the crowd and the many celebrities sitting in the royal box, including the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, the Duke of Kent, as well as Hollywood stars Emma Watson and Kate Winslet. Lewis Hamilton and Anne Wintour were in Serena Williams’ box for the ladies’ final.
3-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is certainly back at this highest level, after 16 tough months during which the former world No. 1 had to deal with many physical and personal problems. The Serb will be the favourite against Kevin Anderson of South Africa in Sunday’s championship match.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
