US tennis player Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in the final of Australian Open after just 1 hour and 24 minutes of play, with the score 6:4, 6:4.
This victory brought Serena back at no 1 in the WTA list and secured her a place in tennis history. Her 23. grand slam title is not just her personal record – it is a new world record as well, eclipsing the previous record for major titles in the Open era held by Steffi Graff, who won 22 Grand slam trophies. With this victory Serena definitively proved that she is the best tennis player there’s ever been.
Saturday’s title was Serena Williams’ 10th major championship won over the age of 30. There was not much suspense in this one, since Wimbledon 2008 was the second and final time Venus beat Serena to win a major trophy. However, the match was an exhilarating display of the sisters’ athletic power, loaded with emotion. “There’s no way I would be at 23 without her,” Serena said after Saturday’s historic win. “There’s no way I would be at one without her. There’s no way I would be anything without her.
Man’s final was equally spectacular. Roger Federer won his long awaited 18th grand slam by defeating his old nemesis Rafael Nadal. It took three hours and 37 minutes, but Swiss tennis player finally celebrated victory with 6:4, 3:6, 6:1, 3:6, 6:3 and claimed his fifth Australian Open title and his first since 2010. In this match full of drama, excellent backhand decided in his favor. Much desired trophy made Federer the first man to take five or more titles at three grand slam events and, at 35, the second-oldest man behind Ken Rosewall to win a major singles trophy.
This was the 35th duel of the great rivals and 12th victory of Federer. Nadal is still leading in the number of victories, but Federer now has 4 major trophies more than Nadal and six more than Djokovic.
“I don’t think either of us believed we’d be in the finals,” said Federer in a humble and moving speech after lifting his trophy. “I’m happy for you [Rafael]. I would have been happy to lose, to be honest. The comeback was as perfect as it was.”