Angelique Kerber vs Serena Williams (6-3, 6-3)
It was a great tournament for both Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber.
Serena made a huge statement by reaching the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles final just months after giving birth to her daughter. Her sheer prowess with the tennis racket made up for her 16 months of absence from the sport and took her back to the top of Wimbledon. A win here would have helped her make history.
Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber had fantastic Wimbledon results at the start, and her strong play helped her reach her second final. This was the best time for her to snag a Wimbledon title for herself. This was also a perfect chance for her to come back and avenge her loss to Williams on the same court two years ago.
And what a revenge she got. She got the win even though the odds were against her. She won her first Wimbledon title by defeating one of the best female tennis players in the sport’s history in straight sets.
This win does not only mean a first Wimbledon title for Kerber: this also sets her up to make a roaring return to the top spot of the WTA rankings, currently held by Simona Halep.
Highlights of the game
One of the biggest highlights of the game wasn’t even related to what was happening on the court: duchesses Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle made a show of support to the incredible women playing in the Ladies’ Singles final. It’s not every day that the tournament is graced by royalty, so it’s understandable that the crowd made a huge deal of the entire affair.
The attention quickly went back to the stars in white when the game got underway. It was a great exhibition of the two schools of thought in tennis as Williams would try to overpower Kerber’s technical tennis with her powerful serves.
Serena did well in the first set of the tournament, snagging two service aces and clocking in an incredible serve speed average of 102 MPH. However, Kerber did cover a lot more ground and returned the ball to difficult spots of the court. She took advantage of Williams’ relatively comparably poor match fitness to forcibly take the first set.
Kerber did well on the returns. She had a total of 22 return points in the opening set and won 15 of those. Her American opponent, meanwhile, struggled with her returns as she got an 8-for-20 for her return points. She had problems with her backhand as she committed eight unforced ground-stroke errors.
The second set saw much improvement from Williams, halving her unforced errors by then. However, that mattered little as Angelique played like a divine angel on the grass.
Williams’ average service speed slowed down in the second set, giving Kerber more time to react to the ball and put it in spots where Williams would have difficulty returning the ball. Both of their service games had improved as both ladies got less than 10 return points.
Serena could have hung on and completed a great storyline by winning straight sets, but Kerber held on to win the game. She wasn’t able to break the German’s serves and had to settle with getting the second-highest honours in this year’s tournament.
The moment Williams failed to send the ball across, she understandably fell to the grass and exhaled a huge sigh of relief. She’s got her vengeance, and Williams was more than gracious to congratulate her for it.
Key statistics
While this is Kerber’s night for jubilation, let me remind you just how impressive Williams was this tournament.
It’s been only less than ten months since she went through a very complicated childbirth. One would think that it would take quite a while before any significant Serena Williams news would hit the wire.
However, she played a great game against Kerber and pleased the crowd. While she lost this final, her batting average at Wimbledon is still high: she only lost three of her ten Wimbledon finals matches.
This is only the third time Kerber took down Williams in an official match, but this is a great achievement for Kerber. Their games are usually decided in straight sets, and this victory follows the trend.
Kerber played a very secure game against Williams: she only ceded two unforced errors. While she only made six winners, her efforts on the court (she covered 41.5 ft for every point) helped secure her first win here.
What’s next?
With the grass court season officially winding down, the two ladies will be preparing to go back to the hard courts.
The US Open is the next big thing on the tennis calendar, and Williams will want to snag her home Grand Slam. Both will be trying to win their next tournaments in order to increase their rankings and qualify for the WTA Finals.
Of course, SBOBET will be keeping an eye on the progress of these strong ladies and will be following their next competitions in the tennis calendar.
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