Only Angelique Kerber knows how much pressure she is under heading into a match against one of the greatest tennis players in the sport’s history. Kerber, who came into the 2016 Australian Open as the No. 7 seed, beat some great players en route to her first-ever Grand Slam finals appearance, but none of them were on the level of Serena Williams, the world No. 1.
Serena Williams vs. Angelique Kerber, Australian Open women’s final preview: An uphill battle for Kerber
Williams is favored by just about everyone, but Kerber has impressed big time in this year’s tournament. Can she pull off the upset?
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Williams is playing for the title in Melbourne a seventh time, and is making her 26th overall appearance in a Grand Slam finals match. Williams is 21-4 in Grand Slam finals, and 8-0 in major finals over the last four seasons. Kerber, on the other hand, has lost her previous three semifinal matches.
On top of that, the head-to-head between the two is not favorable, though it’s nothing line Williams’ 18 consecutive wins over Maria Sharapova or some of her other ridiculous streaks. Kerber last beat Williams in 2012, the only time she’s won in five matches between the two. Their most recent meeting was a straight set win for Williams in the 2014 Bank of the West finals.
All of Williams’ wins over Kerber have been straight set victories. In this tournament, she’s been as dominant as ever, despite serious injury concerns, withdrawing from the Hopman Cup at the start of the year. But Williams has been stellar, and is coming off a dominant win over the surging Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals.
Kerber does have some momentum, for whatever that is worth. She has won her last 14 sets and the lefty is playing the best tennis of her career. She’s putting intense pressure on any strong server she’s playing against, and that will be the key to beating Williams. She will have to be able to handle Williams’ dominant serve and force her into the mistakes she’s forced others into throughout this tournament.
Kerber has broken her opponents 33 times this tournament. Williams is incredibly difficult to break, and worse than that, she seems to pick up steam as matches go so Kerber can’t count on getting ahead and cruising to victory with her own serve. It’s going to be a tough match for her, and most believe Williams will get away with yet another Grand Slam title to her name.
Williams and Kerber will face off in the finals early in the morning on Saturday. It will be the evening in Melbourne, but ESPN will have the final live around 3 a.m. ET.
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