Kerber Stuns Serena to Claim Australian Open

Actually, the most dominant player in women's tennis today was intent on tumbling a German who wasn't even in Melbourne.

One more Australian Open title would have tied Serena Williams with Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam championships in the Open era with 22.

Instead, the German on the other side of the court kept that history from happening.

 

Angelique Kerber came into Oz with a grand total of seven WTA singles titles to her name, which was good enough for a No 6 ranking on the year.

Williams had beaten her in their previous four meetings, so this one was virtually an afterthought before it began. Odds were strong that Serena would claim her seventh overall Aussie championship, but Kerber kept making points like these:

And here's when the 28-year-old Kerber clearly knew that this was her day:

 

Yes, the match was that close.

 

Williams suffered 23 unforced errors in the first set alone before righting her ship in the second. She then recovered from an 0-2 deficit in the deciding set to square it at 2-all before Kerber won the next three games.

In fact, Serena was a point away from drawing even at 5-all, but the German who was seeded No 7 in this event held her nerve to close out the match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

This wasn't the only history Kerber made. She saved match point in her first round battle against Misaki Doi, becoming the first woman in the Open Era to win a major having survived a match point in the first round.

Not a bad way to start the tennis year. This will rocket her to No 2 in the WTA rankings, behind only Williams.