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Sweet revenge for Serena as she finally draws level with Steffi Graf

Serena Williams has been confirmed for the Hopman Cup. (The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )
Roar Guru
10th July, 2016
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After nearly twelve months, world number one Serena Williams has finally returned to the Grand Slam winner’s list, exacting some revenge on Angelique Kerber to win her seventh Wimbledon title and 22nd Grand Slam title overall.

In winning at the All England Club, 34-year-old Williams also equalled Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, and now only needs to win two more to equal Margaret Court on top of the all-time leaderboard with 24, and then another after that to assume sole ownership of the record.

In addition, the American also buried the demons of her past three Grand Slam failures which had seen her lose to Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals of last September’s US Open, as well as a pair of finals to Kerber and Garbine Muguruza at the Australian and French Opens respectively.

But there would be no denying Williams this time around, even if Kerber entered her first Wimbledon final full of confidence, having not dropped a set all tournament.

The first set remained on serve for the most part, though it was the German who was forced to dig deepest, saving a few break points early in the set before dropping her serve for the first time in the twelfth game, gifting Serena the opening set 7-5.

Just one break in the second set was also enough for the American to pull ahead and she subsequently served out the match at 5-3, ending the straight-sets contest after an hour and 21 minutes.

Williams’ seventh victory at the All England Club sees her join Pete Sampras and Roger Federer in elite company with seven Wimbledon titles, though she has become the first woman to do it.

It also makes Wimbledon her most successful Grand Slam tournament yet.

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She had previously saluted at the tournament six times, also doing so as many times at the Australian and US Opens, while the French Open remains her least successful major with only three titles.

If winning the singles wasn’t already enough, Serena then combined with sister Venus to win the women’s doubles for the sixth time, as well as a fourteenth Grand Slam doubles title together from as many finals.

Given the dominance of the Williams sisters in women’s tennis since the turn of the century, there have been recurring jokes that the WTA should be named the Williams Tennis Association (it actually stands for Women’s Tennis Association).

In the 67 Grand Slam singles tournaments that have been contested since the start of 2000, 29 of them have been won by either Serena or Venus – a whopping 43 per cent.

Adding their aforementioned 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, plus two mixed doubles titles for each sister, gives them a whopping 47 Grand Slam titles between arguably the most successful siblings in world sport.

It will remain to be seen how long Serena Williams’ dominance will continue to last, as well as that of the resurgence of Venus five years after a serious illness threatened to fast-track her retirement.

While Serena won it all, Venus enjoyed a resurgence of sorts this fortnight, reaching her first Wimbledon semi-final since 2009 and her first Grand Slam semi since 2010, temporarily erasing doubts that her best tennis might be beyond her.

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The younger of the sisters will now almost certainly start favourite to win Grand Slam number 23 at the US Open in September. If she does, she’ll then have the chance to equal Australian Margaret Court on 24 major titles at, appropriately, next year’s Australian Open.

As for her vanquished opponent, Angelique Kerber, the German was far from disgraced but, in the end, Williams was simply too good on the day.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt the German will continue to contend for more Grand Slam titles in the future and the 28-year-old might even be a chance for a medal at the upcoming Rio Olympics next month.

As for that, Serena Williams will once again start favourite to successfully defend the gold medal which she won in brutal fashion against Maria Sharapova in London four years ago, when she lost just one game in the most lopsided match of their lopsided rivalry.

No man or woman has ever won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in tennis, so that is something the American can achieve in just over a month’s time.

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