Australian Open 2016: Angelique Kerber to play Serena Williams in final
German 7th seed Angelique Kerber beat unseeded Briton Johanna Konta in straight sets – 7-5, 6-2, and will meet World No. 1 Serena Williams in the finals of the Australian Open.
With this win, Kerber progresses to her first ever Grand Slam final, having previously made the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. Kerber was one of the only seeds to remain in the women’s draw, which saw upsets from the first round.
Kerber beat every one of her opponent prior to today’s match in straight sets, a trend she continued to take apart Johanna Konta, who began her own Australian Open campaign with a straight sets victory over former World No. 1 Venus Williams.
She started off asserting her dominance, breaking Konta’s serve to open the match. Although Konta did not go down without a fight, even outhitting her more experienced rival in terms of winners, with 18 to the German’s 14, her relative inexperience was perhaps what let her down.
Considering this was her first time at the semi-final stage of a Grand Slam, the Briton’s nerves may have got the better of her as she committed a number of unforced errors - a mammoth 36 in the two set, which were key in her loss today.
Don’t miss the highlights from this match on SonyLIV.com. All key moments and the complete highlights of the match are available on the Sony LIV app.
Kerber is now only the 6th German woman to get through the finals of a Grand Slam. She joins the ranks of Anke Huber, Helga Niessen, Sylvia Hanika and most notably, of course, Steffi Graf – widely regarded as one of the greatest in the game.
After the match, Kerber, who considers the 22-time Grand Slam winner her idol, asked her to “write me, Steffi!” following her victory.
Serena Williams earlier won the other semi-final today to book her 7th finals spot at the Australian Open – she has won the title each of the 6 times she has been in the final, so Saturday will be a tough ask for Kerber.
Kerber is not the only Graf fan – so is Serena Williams, who with 21 Grand Slam singles titles, will look to equal Graf’s record with a win at the Australian Open.
Don’t forget to watch the finals on SonyLIV.com and find out.