That was the Women’s Final | Australian Open 2016

The world number one and top seed was overwhelming favourite to win her 22nd grand slam title at Melbourne Park, but an error-strewn performance helped the German score a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory.

With the win, Kerber denied Williams’s chance to equal all-time great Steffi Graf’s 22 major singles title record.

For Kerber, her incredible two weeks culminated in her first ever Grand Slam title and will also boost her to a career high No. 2 in the world.

Told later that she appeared to be as happy about the result as Kerber, Williams said: “Really, I should get into acting!”

Williams produced 23 unforced errors in the first set of the final, which gave Kerber all of the momentum she needed, knowing that battling back from a set down would be tough against one of the game’s best closers.

“Fantastic gesture after match point and such kind words – a great champion, @serenawilliams!”, Manchester United and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said on Twitter.

But in what was another twist in a modern classic, Kerber broke Serena’s serve once again, taking advantage of her first and only championship point to close out the match in a gruelling two hours and eight minutes.

“To win it, it’s my dream come true”.

She added: “My whole life I have worked really hard and now I’m here, I can say I’m a grand-slam champion and that sounds really insane”. I did the best I could. “Once it got started, it was so intense from the beginning till the end that I didn’t really have time to be nervous”.

“After Steffi, now somebody won a grand slam!”

“Congratulations Angie, you were the best player this tournament”. And that’s how she played Saturday night in the biggest match of her life. She made just 13 unforced errors in the match.

She led 3-1 and 30-0 on the Williams serve.

By the time Angelique Kerber was back on her feet in the seconds after her Australian Open triumph, Serena Williams had already rounded the net post.

It means Williams’ tally of majors stays at 21 and the list of Grand Slam champions gets an elated and exuberant newcomer. She wavered, failing to do so as a backhand drifted out and now it was Williams serving under pressure as she trailed 5-4.

Most impressive however is Williams’ shot at the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era. But she did, Williams giving Kerber a match point by missing a forehand into the net and then sending the comfortable looking volley long. “As much as I would like to be a robot, I’m not”, she said. “No, but this was what I could produce”, Williams said.

Heading into the Australian Open, the big question was whether anyone could beat Williams, the defending champion going for her seventh win at Melbourne Park. I try to win every single time I step out there, every single point, but realistically I can’t do it. Maybe someone else can, but I wasn’t able to do it.

Capriati continued her remarkable career revival by fighting back from the brink of defeat to beat Hingis.