Serena Williams beat Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 to clinch Wimbledon title
The world No 1 equalled Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slams in Open era
Billie Jean King wants Williams to pass Margaret Court record of 24 slams
Billie Jean King has urged Serena Williams to prove she is the greatest women's player of all-time by going on to pass Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
A 22nd slam success at Wimbledon on Saturday moved Williams level with Steffi Graf on the Open era list, which takes into account only victories since the professional era at the majors began in 1968.
Australian Margaret Court's career spanned both the amateur and Open eras, and she landed 24 grand slams, setting the benchmark by which every other great champion is judged.
King, who won six Wimbledon singles titles from 1966 to 1975, was hugely impressed by Williams as she saw off Angelique Kerber to take the Wimbledon title for a seventh time.
'Didn't Stefanie Graf win seven, and she also holds 22, so she's right in line with Stefanie,' King said on BBC One. 'Margaret's got 24. So if she can keep her motivation and stay healthy maybe she'll be our greatest ever.
'I think she should be, I think she is, but she still has to prove it. I think she should go on to win more.'
King felt Williams 'looked depressed' earlier in the year, as her form fell marginally below her highest standards.
King thought Williams 'looked depressed' earlier this season but seemed to be happier at Wimbledon
Before Wimbledon she had lost in the finals of the Australian Open and French Open, to Kerber and Garbine Muguruza respectively.
'She's definitely happier coming into Wimbledon, I could tell before the tournament,' said King. 'You could just tell she was better.'
King said Williams possessed 'the most beautiful serve ever' and added: 'I always talk about how the head, the heart and the guts have to be together to make greatness and that's what Serena has.
'You can find lots of terrific physical athletes - you can find tons - but if they don't have it emotionally and mentally they're not going to make it.
'She hates losing and I love that fact: that's what makes her so great.'
PICTURES: The winning moment for Serena
SERENA WILLIAMS BEATS ANGELIQUE KERBER 7-5 6-3
Wow... history beckoned for Serena - a 22nd and
record-equalling Grand Slam - and yet it might as well have been a game
in the first round.
Three booming serves and Kerber has no response - made it look so quick, so easy. A smash to win it and Serena is the Wimbledon champion once again.
History is made, the greatest of all time now surely?
Kerber put up some glorious resistance in that final but then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Serena just upped the pressure and got herself home.
Three booming serves and Kerber has no response - made it look so quick, so easy. A smash to win it and Serena is the Wimbledon champion once again.
History is made, the greatest of all time now surely?
Kerber put up some glorious resistance in that final but then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Serena just upped the pressure and got herself home.
Yet another excellent rally and a tremendous effort from Kerber to repel those powerful Serena shots - 40-15.
Back comes Serena - racing to the net to bring up deuce. Key moment now.
Kerber then an inch or two long and Serena has a break point. And takes it!
More promising signs for Kerber - who appears to be absolutely nerveless - as Serena fires too long again. Unfortunately for the German, Serena once again sends down an 116mph ace. Followed by another one - that's eight aces in the contest so far - and there really isn't anything you can do about it...
Williams* 2-2 Kerber
Much better serving from the German, with one snapping off
the side of Serena's racket and flying off into the crowd. But once in
play, the favourite adeptly reads an attempted cross-court, blocking it
off.
There is a bit of a swirling wind on Centre Court and it does seem to be affecting both players at times. Kerber manages to hold and it's more straightforward than her last service game.
There is a bit of a swirling wind on Centre Court and it does seem to be affecting both players at times. Kerber manages to hold and it's more straightforward than her last service game.
Williams 1-0 *Kerber (*serving next)
We'll certainly take more of that - thundering rally to get
us underway before Kerber takes the point.
Williams soon into her stride however, landing a couple of crunching forehand winners just inside the baseline - then a stonking ace - to get off the mark.
Williams soon into her stride however, landing a couple of crunching forehand winners just inside the baseline - then a stonking ace - to get off the mark.
Here they come...
Right, the time has come for the players to walk out onto Centre Court.
Serena goes first, wearing headphones with no doubt some motivational tunes playing. She has made this walk many times, but it's a new experience for Angelique Kerber a few paces behind her.
They walk past the trophy they both so desperately want to be lifting in a couple of hours' time.
They are both handed the traditional bouquets of flowers and walk out onto the court to a rapturous reception.
Serena goes first, wearing headphones with no doubt some motivational tunes playing. She has made this walk many times, but it's a new experience for Angelique Kerber a few paces behind her.
They walk past the trophy they both so desperately want to be lifting in a couple of hours' time.
They are both handed the traditional bouquets of flowers and walk out onto the court to a rapturous reception.
It all comes down to this.
It's Serena v Kerber for the right to be crowed the 2016 Ladies' Singles champion...l
Williams has become something else now, something more than just a tennis player. Like many of sport's greatest male champions, like Muhammad Ali, like Ayrton Senna, like Michael Jordan, she has attained a significance that goes beyond the sport she graces. She has come to stand for something that inspires people.
When she beat Angelique Kerber in straight sets in an enthralling, high-quality final, the victory gave Williams her 22nd Grand Slam title, drawing her level with Steffi Graf and left only Margaret Court, who won 24, standing between her and the title of the greatest women's tennis player of all time. Perhaps, actually, the greatest tennis player of all time.
It was a terrific, unrelenting match played in a spirit of great sportsmanship with each player routinely applauding the winning shots of the other and the calibre and relentlessness of many of the rallies drawing gasps of admiration from the crowd.
Kerber is no patsy but she was always on the defensive against Williams, who had not won a major title since her dream of winning a Calendar Slam last year was destroyed by Roberta Vinci at the US Open.
Kerber fought and fought to stay on level terms with the woman she beat in the final of the Australian Open this year but she could never quite cope with the power or the precision of Williams's serve, which John McEnroe compared later with Novak Djokovic's return as the two greatest weapons in the history of the sport.
Only once, in the seventh game of the second set, did Kerber manage to force a break point on Williams's serve. Williams responded with an ace, then with another ace before she closed the game out. Kerber did not win another game and eventually succumbed 7-5, 6-3. Williams fell backwards on to the turf in ecstasy before rushing to the net to embrace her opponent.
But if
people saw a piece of tennis history, they also saw a woman who, like
some of those watching, has become an American icon. To many, Williams
has come to epitomise a strong, independent figurehead who has triumphed
over the many obstacles that have been placed in her way. Many also
look to her now as a spokeswoman on black issues and Williams does not
shy away from her responsibilities.
Last
December, when she made her acceptance speech at Sports Illustrated's
Sportsperson-of-the-Year Awards in New York, Williams made a point of
reading out the Maya Angelou poem, Still I Rise, which is partly about
the beauty of refusing to be cowed by discouragement, difficulty and
prejudice.
'Did
you want to see me broken?' Williams read out from the poem that night,
'Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you
take it awful hard, Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines, Diggin' in
my own backyard.You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with
your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air,
I'll rise.'
And
still she rises. She has always had to fight for acceptance and
acclaim. She has never been revered in the same way that Roger Federer
has or that Djokovic is now. She is still mocked about her body shape.
Even
last week, as she closed in on Graf's record, social media was agog
with the idea that her dress was too revealing in some way. Women in
tennis still have to deal with that as a matter of routine. When Marion
Bartoli was playing, she was 'never going to be a looker'. Now, people
are concerned she is too thin.
Tennis
is still a white person's game too and it often feels as though
Williams and her family have been treated as impostors. They have been
tolerated rather than embraced. Slowly, slowly, she has overcome that
but even the winning shots of Kerber were greeted with deafening roars
where Williams' triumphs were met with polite applause. Maybe that was
because Kerber was the underdog. Maybe it wasn't.
What is difficult to deny is that Williams has become someone to admire on and off the court. She recognises that she has a voice and a platform to make it heard and, unlike so many prominent sportsmen and women who worry about damaging their brand, she is not afraid to speak out.
She did so again when she was asked about the latest racial tensions sweeping America, the shootings of black men by police and the reprisals taken against white police officers in Dallas.
'I feel anyone of my colour in particular is of concern,' she said. 'I do have nephews that I'm thinking, do I have to call them and tell them: "Don't go outside. If you get in your car, it might be the last time I see you".' 'Obviously, violence is not the answer of solving it. The shooting in Dallas was very sad.
We're all human. We have to learn that we have to love one another. It's going to take a lot of education and a lot of work to get to that point.'
She still alluded briefly to the fact that she is rarely a crowd favourite. 'I felt at home today,' she said.
'I can't say that often.' But she preferred to concentrate on the realisation that, at 34, she has become an inspiration to women and to men. 'I've had great dreams,' she said. 'I didn't come from any money or anything but I did have a dream and I did have hope. That's really all you need.
'We shouldn't put any female athlete in a box. Why do we have to be limited to just female athletes? We all work really hard. We just want to be known as just athletes.
'I've had some tough losses in the last three tournaments before this but, for me, the success of another female in particular should be an inspiration to the next.
'I just felt like, if anything, these ladies who beat me inspire me to want to do better. Why would I be jealous of them? I have so many titles, so many Grand Slams, so many things that I'm proud of. I just feel honoured that I'm welcoming them to this unique position with open arms.'
