Everything you need to know about Kerber’s Australian Open victory

Everything you need to know about Angelique Kerber's shocking win over Serena Williams at the Australian Open, including highlights, stats, fast facts and more.

Jamie Lisanti | Jan 30, 2016

Everything you need to know about Kerber’s Australian Open victory /

On Sunday in Melbourne, Angelique Kerber defeated Serena Williams 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 after two hours and nine minutes to win the 2016 Australian Open title. In case you missed it, here are some of the top moments and takeaways from the match.

Key stats

Kerber stayed consistent throughout the match and her left-handed shots were a challenge for Serena from the start. At the beginning of the match, Serena began with a clean hold at love, but the opening set quickly turned in Kerber’s favor after she earned her first break of the match with great running backhand pass. Kerber then consolidated the break to go up 3–1 and Serena responded with a superb cross-court shot of her own:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/Curtos07/status/693358475074625536]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/693358988465803265]

Serena’s 23rd unforced error gave Kerber the first set, 6–4, marking the first time she took the opening set off Serena since 2012 and the first time that Serena lost the opening set in a Grand Slam final since the 2011 U.S. Open.

In the end, Serena finished with 46 unforced errors to Kerber’s 13 and 47 winners to Kerber’s 25. Here’s a look at the final stats:

A place in history

With her win on Saturday, No. 7-seed Kerber became the lowest ranked player to win the Australian Open since Serena in 2007. (Also an interesting fact to note: the last No. 7-seed to win the Australian Open was Serena in 2005.)

Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to win 2016 Australian Open

The German’s win also denies Serena from tying Kerber’s idol and countrywoman Steffi Graf’s record of 22 major titles. Kerber agreed that Sunday in Melbourne was certainly a big day for German tennis.

“I think I helped Steffi right now,” Kerber said after the match. “I think it's so good also for Germany, for the German tennis. After Steffi, now somebody won a Grand Slam. It's like just amazing. Right now I'm not thinking about the next tournaments, the next challenges. I'm just trying to stay here and enjoy everything.”

Dropshots

In the third set, Kerber saved two game points in a 16-point game—the longest of the match—using perfectly-placed dropshots to eventually go up 4-2 over Serena.

[tweet=https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/693381418517331969]

“She had some great dropshots, twice. You know, they were great,” Serena said after the match. “They were just unexpected because she hadn't hit any until the third set. So that's it. I definitely could have got them. I'm really fast. But I just wasn't able to read that one in time.”

After the match, Kerber explained why she decided to throw in the dropshots at such a tense, pivotal moment in the match.

“That's how I am, a little bit crazy, you know. I really know and I have confidence when I play my dropshots. I was, okay, the game is so long. I must change something what she was not expecting,” she said. “I was really hoping the ball was coming over the net because they were like really good. When I hit the first one I said to myself, ‘Okay, make another one. You can do it.’ It was just like more the feeling in this moment.”

Serena and Angie’s moment on court

When Serena’s volley went long on championship point, Kerber fell to the ground in disbelief:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/693387698585735168]

After Kerber had her moment, the two finalists shared a hug on court:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/693387036049289216]

Rankings update

On Monday, Kerber will rise to No. 2 in the WTA Rankings, a career-high for the 28-year-old. After the match, Serena was asked if Kerber deserved the No. 2 spot after her win.

“I think so. I mean, she's had a great month,” she said. “She got to the finals in Brisbane. She won here. So, yeah. I was surprised and really happy for her. I'm like, Whoa, No. 2. What's after 2 is 1, so I guess I better be careful.”

Monday’s new WTA top ten list:

Serena Williams
Angelique Kerber
Simona Halep
Agnieszka Radwanska
Garbiñe Muguruza
Maria Sharapova
Flavia Pennetta
Carla Suarez Navarro
Petra Kvitova
Lucie Safarova

Applause all around

Tennis players, athletes and others around the world sent their congratulations to Kerber and Serena via Twitter after the match.

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[tweet=https://twitter.com/Martina/status/693391648231804928]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/andreapetkovic/status/693386414344503296]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/CoCoVandey/status/693387614527709184]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/BillieJeanKing/status/693400671022911488]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/BillieJeanKing/status/693401852461867008]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/Petra_Kvitova/status/693397155634110464]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/693398750383988736]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/darren_cahill/status/693408236171427840]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/Kohlscribbler/status/693388108147093504]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/sabinelisicki/status/693408585355825152]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/AnaIvanovic/status/693403926171930624]

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Snapshots from the women's final

Australian Open 2016 women's final

Published Jan 30, 2016

JAMIE LISANTI

Jamie Lisanti is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated. A former college soccer player, she covers a variety of topics, including tennis, Olympics, fitness and nutrition, and more.