Kerber, Raonic biggest rankings movers after Australian Open

Angelique Kerber: As the No. 7 seed, Kerber stunned the tennis world by defeating both pre-tournament favorites in Victoria Azarenka and World No. 1 Serena Williams to capture her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

In the ultimate tribute to her childhood hero, Kerber foiled Williams’s bid to match the German great’s tally of grand slam titles, closing out a magnificent 6-4 3-6 6-4 win in her first major final.

Williams, the world number one and defending champion, had won all six previous Melbourne Park finals she had played and had also triumphed in her last eight Grand Slam deciders.

The seventh seeded Kerber, however, was not overawed by the occasion of her first grand slam final, breaking twice in the first set as Williams made 23 unforced errors.

The left-handed German, whose win will see her move up from world No. 6 to No. 2, has had an emphasis on consistency in Melbourne, patiently building control of the point as rallies develop. Right on the heels of tying tennis legend Steffi Graf’s 22 major title wins, Williams, the No. 1 rank, fell short to Kerber, who is No. 6. “I have won against her once, but here I must play the best I can”.

Saturday’s stunning upset over Williams, a 21-time Grand Slam, champion sent Germany into a spin, with a host of sports stars hailing the achievement, along with Chancellor Angela Merkel. I’m really happy about my game I played. about the two weeks.

Kerber said she had “one leg on the plane home” when match point down against Misaki Doi in the opening round but now, seven victories later, she is an Australian Open champion. It has taken half of her lifetime to now be on the verge of equalling the German great. She wanted nothing to do with yet another unforced error in her Australian Open final against Angelique Kerber. She wins most every tournament she is playing in. I had also a few downs where I was not so believing in myself.

She also becomes the first German to win the Australian Open title since Steffi Graf in 1994.

“As much as I would like to be a robot, I’m not”.

But in the end, it was Serena’s sportsmanship that may have taken the vocal Australian crowd’s breath away as the vanquished champion crossed over to Kerber’s side and embraced her warmly. To be able to call herself a Grand Slam champion, she said, “It sounds really insane”.

“I’m really honoured to be here and to win it is my dream come true tonight”.

“I was trying to stay relaxed until the last point (against Williams)”, she said.

Working up to a 3-all, Serena blew her momentum by committing error after error that allowed Kerber to recoup. She said her victory against the former World number one Belarusian had given her enough motivation.

“I think I did the best I could today”. They told me, “Okay, let’s go to work and you will do it some day”.

“You are really an inspiration for so many people, so many young tennis players”, Kerber said in tribute to Williams.