Australian OpenSerena Williams bemoans shot selection against Kerber

The pictures also hint at a long-term partner for Angelique Kerber, though she remains incredibly quiet about her love life.

Kerber shocked Serena Williams on Saturday to win her first-ever Grand Slam title.

On the back of the win, Kerber will move to No. 2 in the world when the latest rankings are released next week.

Coming into this match, there was a lot of talk about whether or not this match would be a competitive one, given Williams’ form and great history against Kerber in the past. Instead Williams broke for 1-2. As a result, the world number one would go on to hold and break back a game later, regaining parity at three-games-all.

Williams hit 46 unforced errors – more than double her second highest tally in the tournament – and was broken five times.

Three break points for Kerber came and went in the enthralling sixth game, the third one erased with a backhand into the corner.

Winning a set off Williams in a grand slam final is one thing – it was the first set she lost this fortnight – but finishing the job is another matter entirely.

But as Kerber edged towards a famous victory, the seventh seed coughed up consecutive double-faults to hand Williams a 4-2 buffer in the second set. After Steffi, now somebody (else) won a Grand Slam. Or will it go the way of the 28-year-old German from Bremen?

Angelique Kerber of Germany celebrates after winning a point against Serena Williams of the United States during the women’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 30, …

Twenty-three of them came in the opening set as she uncharacteristically sprayed balls wide and long, while missing nearly half of her shots from the net.

Kerber faltered trying to serve out the match at 5-4, but finally prevailed as Williams dropped serve for a fifth time trying to stay in the contest.

Kerber stunned the sporting world with a dramatic 6-4 3-6 6-4 Australian Open final triumph over the all-conquering world No. 1 last night.

Williams admitted previously she became nervous and was stalled for a while trying to get to 18 major titles, to equal Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s career marks in second spot in the Open era. It will eventually begin to decline – have we seen it already given the past two Slams? – but she still has a solid chance to match and better Graf’s record. “She would’ve had to lock herself in a tiny room and never get out again if she wanted to get away”. She won 22 Grand Slams. That’s my first one.

En route to the final Kerber beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka to signal she meant business, and she made the most of an error-strewn performance by Williams.

Serena Williams of the United States reacts after winning a point against Angelique Kerber of Germany during the women’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016.

Presented with a chance to serve it out, Kerber produced a shaky error on the first point.

Kerber credited Williams with being an inspiration to a generation of players.

“Angy congratulations, you did so well, you played the best in the tournament”, Williams said.

“When I played here in the first round I had one leg on the plane to Germany and now I’m here”, Kerber said. “You played the best in this tournament and you truly deserve it”.

It was the sort of point many matches would turn on but Williams is an exceptional case and she recovered immediately to break back and level at 2-2.

The 34-year-old Williams hadn’t lost a set in the first six rounds here until dropping the first on Saturday night against No. 7-seeded Kerber, who was playing in her first major final.