Serena Williams Inches Closer to Steffi Graf’s Record After Australian Open Win

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 31, 2015

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In front of a packed crowd on Saturday evening in Melbourne, Australia, battling both an illness and the No. 2 player in the world, Serena Williams won her sixth Australian Open title, 6-3, 7-6(5). This was the 19th major title of her career, and it moved her a mere three Grand Slams away from tying Steffi Graf atop the list of major winners.

There are a lot of things responsible for this Slam victory—her serve, her speed, her hard work, her competitive fire. But nothing was as crucial to this particular victory as Serena's composure.



Serving at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker against an incredibly in-form Maria Sharapova, Serena hit a serve out wide on championship point. It was an ace. She dropped her racket, freeing herself up to celebrate her legendary feat.

Then Alison Hughes, the umpire, made an unwelcome announcement: Let.

Serena's serve had grazed the net on the way over, so suddenly she had to compose herself all over again. Instead of having a 19th Slam, she had to serve once more. Many would have been rattled, perhaps irreparably, but not Serena—at least not on this particular day.

She picked up her racket, took a deep breath and hit the exact same serve out wide. This time the ace comfortably cleared the net.

With that ace—her 18th of the match—Serena, 33, defeated Sharapova, 27, to win the Australian Open for the first time since 2010. She also broke her tie with Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova and moved into second place all by herself on the list of major winners in the Open era.



Composure hasn't always been Serena's biggest strength—we've seen her lose it in big moments in Grand Slams before, most notably in the U.S. Open semifinal against Kim Clijsters in 2009 and the U.S. Open final against Sam Stosur in 2011. But this time, no matter what the match threw at her, she picked up her racket, took a de...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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