Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams in straight sets, claiming her third grand slam title and being the first German to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
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Photo: LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Angelique Kerber of Germany poses with the Venus Rosewater Dish after beating Serena Williams of the United States in the ladies final at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
The ladies final was delayed by the gentlemen’s semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, not starting until two hours past the scheduled time of 2 pm BST.
Once the match began, with HRH Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton and HRH Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle watching from the Royal Box, Kerber broke the Williams serve in the opening game. Williams was able to break back to level the score, but Kerber broke again, eventually winning the set 6-3.
In the first set, Williams had 14 unforced errors to three and only improved slightly in the second with ten unforced errors to two. That was the key in the match as Kerber played almost the perfect match to down the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
Kerber did not face a break point in the second set and it took just one to give her the edge in the second set. As Kerber was serving for the set, and with the score at 30-30 Williams rushed the net and had an easy shot to put away. Instead, she hit long to hand Kerber the first championship point. That was all it took as the next point saw Williams’ return fall into the net.
When this happened Kerber fell to the ground filled with happiness before the two women warmly embraced each other at the conclusion of the match. The final score was 6-3, 6-3, with the match lasting 1:05.
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Photo: LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Angelique Kerber of Germany during her Ladies’ Singles Final match against Serena Williams of USA on day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Corbis via Getty Images)
The defeat of Serena Williams has prevented her from equaling Australian former tennis player, Margaret Court’s record number of 24 grand slam titles this time, though she says that this is ‘literally just the beginning’ of her comeback after giving birth to her first daughter 10 months ago.
Whilst not many people thought Angelique Kerber, the number 11 seed would make it this far at Wimbledon 2018 just two weeks ago, she played some of her best tennis to become a Wimbledon champion and a new member of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Kerber only dropped one set throughout her whole Wimbledon run in the second round against Claire Liu. She will climb up the WTA ranking from world number 10 to number 4.
“I think it’s a completely new feeling because 2016 everything starts where I won my first Grand Slam. Here, especially after 2017 when I think nobody was expecting me so strong back, to coming back how I came, to winning my third Grand Slam, winning Wimbledon, which was always my dream. I think two weeks ago nobody expected I can go so far.” Kerber said in her press conference when asked how it feels to be at the top of the sport again.
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Photo: LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Serena Williams of the United States looks dejected after missing a sitter against Angelique Kerber of Germany in the ladies final at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
The post-final press conferences are below.
