Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to win Australian Open

Angelique Kerber became the first German to win a Grand Slam title since her childhood idol Steffi Graf in 1999 when she upset world number one Serena Williams 6-4 3-6 6-4 to clinch the Australian Open on Saturday.

The 34-year-old American had been seeking her seventh Melbourne Park title and 22nd overall, which would have moved her into a tie with Graf for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era.

The seventh-seeded Kerber, however, was not overawed by the occasion of her first Grand Slam final, breaking twice in the first set to take it in 39 minutes as Williams made 23 unforced errors.

Williams cut down on the errors to send it into a third, which Kerber, who had the opportunity to serve it out while leading 5-3 only for the American to battle back, clinched when Williams hit a volley long in the following game.

The opening salvo had looked ominous as Williams raced through the first game to love and then put pressure on the German, who was down 15-30 after a double fault but managed to suppress any demons she may have had and held on.

The 28-year-old German then played superb defensive tennis against the powerful Williams, scrambling to force her to play an extra shot that ultimately contributed to 23 unforced errors from the American in the first set.

Those errors and a lack of timing on several potential winners enabled the German to break again in the seventh game and then seal the first set in 39 minutes when Williams made another unforced error.

The pair held serve in the opening two games of the second set before Williams began to get her timing back and made less errors as she raced out to a 4-1 lead, though the concerned look she shot her supporters in the players' box suggested she had been battling to work the German out.

Williams sent the match into a decider when Kerber hit an easy forehand into the net to clinch the second set.

Both players suffered early breaks in the third set but the championship appeared to have tipped in the German's favour in a marathon sixth game when she finally converted her fifth break point to take a 4-2 lead.

She extended that to 5-2 and was serving for the title at 5-3 before Williams fought back, though the inspired German was able to clinch her first Grand Slam and then collapse onto the court in jubilation.

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Serena Williams, Sharapova into 3rd round at Australian Open

Serena Williams has had so much success for such a long time that even in a second-round match she can set a record at the season’s first Grand Slam event.

The six-time and defending champion beat No. 90-ranked Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena, an all-time record 79th main draw match at the Australian Open.

She closed with an ace, her seventh, finishing in precisely an hour.

“It all started here this is where I played my first Grand Slam right on this court and I’m still going, it’s such an honor,” said Williams, who has a 70-9 win-loss record at Melbourne Park since her debut in 1998. “I love it every time I come here.”

She hit 26 winners, including one around the post that she thought may have been a first for her, at age 34.

“My first one I think,” she said. “I was like, “Yay. Never too late.”

She faces a potential quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, which would be a rematch of the 2015 final.

Sharapova reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first match completed on day three, when light rain caused an hour-long delay getting started on the outside courts.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won the 2008 Australian title and has lost three finals at Melbourne Park.

She dropped two service games in the first set, including once when serving at 5-1, but was otherwise consistent except for some over-hit ground strokes.

“To come back here and play my first match on Rod Laver is always very special as you always get those first little jitters out of the way.”

Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest wins since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major winner and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.

The 92nd-ranked Bondarenko is playing only her second Grand Slam tournament since returning to the tour in 2014.

Seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, advanced to the third round in the men’s draw with a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Austin Krajicek.

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Serena Williams, Sharapova in same quarter at Australian Open

Defending champion Serena Williams and No. 5-ranked Maria Sharapova were drawn into the same section for the Australian Open on Friday, setting up a potential quarterfinal match featuring the 2015 finalists.

Six-time champion Williams has a tough draw starting in the opening round against Camila Giorgi of Italy, who finished 2015 at No. 34 and was the highest-ranked player who was not seeded for the season’s first major which begins Monday.

Williams, who just missed a calendar year Grand Slam last year when she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals, could also meet former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

Williams and Sharapova entered the tournament with injury concerns Williams had to pull out of the Hopman Cup team event in Perth due to left knee soreness, and Sharapova withdrew as defending champion from the season-opening Brisbane International because of soreness in her left forearm.

Both have been practicing at Melbourne Park, and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley on Friday said Williams and Sharapova were fit.

Second-seeded Simona Halep will open against a qualifier, while two-time champion and 14th seeded Victoria Azarenka, who won last week’s Brisbane International and appears free from injury for the first time in several years, will play Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium.

“She’s got a bounce to her step,” Tiley said of Azarenka.

Novak Djokovic will open his title defense against Chung Hyeon of South Korea and, if results go with rankings, could meet No. 7 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Roger Federer in the semis.

Federer, who has won four Australian titles among his 17 majors, opens against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, and possibly Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second and No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov in the third.

Federer won his last Australian title in 2010 and made four semifinals in a row before losing in the third round last year to Andreas Seppi.

No 2-ranked Andy Murray will open again Alexander Zverev of Germany and in the same half of the draw, 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka takes on Dmitry Tursonov.

Fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal, who could meet fourth-seeded Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, opens again fellow Spaniard and 2009 Australian Open semifinalist Fernando Verdasco.

The floater in that quarter of the draw is No. 13 Milos Raonic, who plays Lucas Pouille of France in the first round. Raonic beat Federer in the Brisbane International final last week.

Lleyton Hewitt, who will play his 20th and last Australian Open before retiring and has already been hired as the country’s Davis Cup captain, will play fellow Australian James Duckworth in the first round.

The closest Hewitt came to capturing his national title was when he lost the 2005 final to Marat Safin.

“It’s a dream first round for the event that Hewitt and Duckworth match-up,” Tiley said of the two players who needed wild cards to get into the main draw.

Another Australian, No. 16-seeded Bernard Tomic, will play Uzbekistan veteran Denis Istomin in the first round, and 29-seeded Nick Kyrgios l plays Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.

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