Serena Williams Beats Angelique Kerber To Win Wimbledon 2016

World number one Serena Williams beat German fourth seed Angelique Kerber to win a seventh Wimbledon and 22nd Grand Slam title on Saturday.

The American defeated Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-3 to draw level with Steffi Graf’s historic milestone.

After three Slam disappointments in a row, the real Serena is back, says Mouratoglou: https://t.co/XNatLsZVoB pic.twitter.com/u7SVSf06s9

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2016

Germany’s Kerber had already denied Williams a place in the record books during 2016 after a shock win in the Australian Open final, but history wouldn’t repeat itself.

Williams had also lost in shocking fashion to unseeded Roberta Vinci in the semifinals of last year’s U.S. Open, where she was attempting to equal Graf’s record as well as complete a calendar year Grand Slam.

Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said the loss to Vinci had taken longer for Serena to recuperate from than he initially expected.

“She missed once and because so many things were on the line — like the calendar Slam, the 22nd, the fact that it was in New York, I mean all those things together — this hurt her much too much,” Mouratoglou said. “And then after, the other losses were a consequence of this one.”

“I think if anything, I was able to show resilience,” Williams said. “No, that’s not going to shake me, you’re not going to break me, it’s going to make me stronger.”

“I have, yeah, definitely had some sleepless nights, if I’m just honest,” she said. “With a lot of stuff: coming so close, feeling it, not being able to quite get there.”

Williams added a seventh Wimbledon title to her remarkable trophy cabinet, having successfully defended the prize that she won last year too.

Kerber was a game opponent throughout, frequently matching the power and athleticism that has always been the American’s trademark.

But the experience told at the conclusion of the opening set. After 11 games had gone with serve, Williams gritted her teeth and secured a vital break to avoid a tie-break.

Williams saved a break point with a brutal ace to go 4-3 ahead in the second set and crucially broke Kerber at the next opportunity before serving out match point, 14 years after her first Wimbledon success.

“This is how Serena is playing,” Kerber said. “I had one break point, and I couldn’t do nothing.”`

Williams had previously lost both of this year’s Grand Slam finals – in Australia to Kerber and at the French Open to Garbine Muguruza.

The 34-year-old needs two more Wimbledon titles to match Martina Navratilova’s Open era record of nine.