Simply sensational
Another Slam | US superstar fast becoming one of the game’s all-time greats
TOP seed Serena Williams of the US battled through illness to beat Maria Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open to win her 19th major singles tennis title.
Williams, struggling with a virus, defeated Sharapova 6-3 76 (7-5) at Rod Laver Arena in the first women’s final between the No 1 and No 2 seeds in Melbourne since 2004. It’s her sixth title at the season’s opening grand slam.
“Growing up, I wasn’t the richest but I had a rich family in spirit and support,” Williams told the crowd after she received her sixth Australian Open trophy from former winner Martina Navratilova. “Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. I went on the court with just a ball and a racket and a hope, and that’s all I had.”
Williams said she had at times been “down and out” but found the strength to win. She thanked her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, for “helping me get through these two weeks”.
Williams’s victory extends her dominance of the 27-yearold Russian to 17-2. Both of Sharapova’s victories date to 2004, when she surprised Williams in the Wimbledon final and won at the women’s tour championships in Los Angeles.
In yesterday’s match Williams produced 38 winners, including 18 aces. Sharapova had 21 winners, of which five
It’s an honour playing against her. I haven’t beaten her in a long time
were aces. “I’ve got to congratulate Serena on creating history, on playing some of her best tennis,” Sharapova told the crowd.
“It’s really an honour playing against her. I haven’t beaten her in a long time but I love every time I step on the court against her because she’s been the best, and as a tennis player, you want to play against the best.”
At 33, Williams is the oldest women’s champion in Australia since tennis turned professional in 1968.
The top-seeded American, who tied Chris Evert and Navratilova with 18 majors at the US Open, is now three titles shy of Steffi Graf, who holds the Open era record with 22. Margaret Court has the overall record with 24 won between 1960 and 1973.
Although Sharapova had won the toss and elected to serve, she started nervously, getting broken on a double fault as Williams stood inside the court ripping returns.
Williams had been struggling with a virus for the past few days that had put fellow American Varvara Lepchenko in the hospital.
Jill Craybas, a former US player, told the BBC earlier yesterday that Williams had a temperature of 38.9º C before the match.
Williams, coughing between points, easily held for a 2-0 lead before Sharapova produced a love game to get on the scoreboard.
Rain stopped the match with Williams serving at 3-2, 30-30. After both players sat down, the tournament referee decided to close the roof and turn the match into the third indoor women’s final in Australian Open history.
Williams had a coughing fit when she walked back onto court, then left again. After seeing the tournament doctor, she restarted her service game with an ace and then broke to love to take a 5-2 lead.
After clawing one break back as Williams produced two double faults, Sharapova handed her opponent three set points with a wayward forehand. After winning the first set with a backhand winner, Williams didn’t drop a point in her first two service games of the second set, mixing serves of up to 202 km per hour with slice serves
Maria played a wonderful match tonight, she really pushed me
down the middle.
Serving at 6-5, Williams thought she’d won the match after she hit an ace, only for the umpire to call a let. Williams regrouped, and then hit another ace in the same spot to win her 19th major.
“Maria played a wonderful match tonight, she really pushed me,” Williams said.
After exiting all three majors before the quarterfinals in 2014, Williams rebounded in New York, beating Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in the finals. Afterwards the American said the chase for her 18th major had put her under a lot of strain.
Unbeaten so far in 2015, the victory cements her position as the world’s top-ranked female tennis player. Sharapova, a fivetime major champion and the world’s highest-paid female athlete, will remain No 2 after the tournament. — Bloomberg