The 2016 edition of the Australian Open ended on Saturday on a shocking note as world number one, Serena Williams lost her bid to win a 22nd Grand Slam as she was beaten 6-4 3-6 6-4 by Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
Serena had won all matches en-route the final without dropping a set but the No.7 seeded Kerber played a brilliant game to win her first Grand Slam title.
The first set lasted 39 minutes with the American making 23 unforced errors to just three from Kerber, who beat Victoria Azarenka and Johanna Konta in the quarter and semi finals respectively.
Williams was very tentative on her signature volleys and many times during the match, the hesitation to volley gave Kerber the chance to counter.
In what was an awesome display of defensive tennis, Ketber matched Williams for power as she ran around most of the balls played to her, which forced Williams into taking extra shots that ultimately turned into errors.
Kerber made 78% of her first serves compared to 69% for Williams who was found out at the net as Kerber used the inside ball as her get-out-of-jail free card.
The deciding set was of exhilarating stuff and the fans at the Rod Laver Arena definitely got their money’s worth as they saw the birth of a new tennis queen down under.
Williams will now have to wait until the French Open later in the year to achieve her record 22 grand slam.
