{"id":12198,"date":"2017-01-28T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=12198"},"modified":"2017-01-28T13:00:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T19:00:39","slug":"serena-jameka-williams-makes-it-23-wins-an-open-era-record-23rd-grand-slam-singles-crown-by-defeating-her-sister-one-of-the-greatest-tennis-players-of-all-time-venus-williams-in-the-womens-fina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=12198","title":{"rendered":"#SERENAWILLIAMS MAKES IT 23, IN OPEN ERA RECORD 23RD GRAND SLAM SINGLES CROWN, BY DEFEATING HER SISTER, ONE OF THE GREATEST TENNIS PLAYERS OF ALL-TIME, VENUS WILLIAMS, IN THE WOMENS FINAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"C3QYY3eWMAE71UZ\"Serena Jameka Williams wins an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles crown by defeating sister Venus in the women\u2019s final.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Serena Williams has won a record 23rd Grand Slam women\u2019s singles title, taking her seventh Australian Open crown with a 6-4 6-4 victory over sister Venus Williams on Saturday night at Rod Laver Arena.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her 23rd major title passes Steffi Graf\u2019s 22 as the most successful women\u2019s player in the Open era; Serena is now only one shy of Margaret Court\u2019s all-time record.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the lights dimmed and the 35-year-old prepared to walk to the dais to hoist the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for a seventh time, Serena changed into a pair of custom-made Michael Jordan-style Air 23 shoes.\"serena-williams-wins-australian-open-defeats-sister-venus-08\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The red and black Nikes were a fitting tribute to her remarkable achievement after a final which started amid tension and finished with the younger of the two siblings falling to the ground in jubilation, her hands and feet planted on the blue hard court in front of her.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the victory, Serena moves back to world No.1, dethroning Angelique Kerber, the woman who denied her in last year\u2019s Melbourne Park decider.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She has now won 23 of 29 major singles finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Older sister Venus, in her first Grand Slam decider since Wimbledon 2009, has now lost eight of her past nine meetings with Serena, but will rise to No.11 in the rankings after her best Australian Open showing since 2003, when she was also runner-up to Serena.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a tough one. I just kept praying and I\u2019m here,\u201d Serena said before paying tribute to her sister.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an amazing person. There\u2019s no way I\u2019d be at 23 without her. There\u2019s no way I would be at (number) one without her, there\u2019s no way I\u2019d have anything without her.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s my inspiration, she\u2019s the only reason I\u2019m standing here today and the only reason the Williams sisters exist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Venus for inspiring me to be the best player that I could be and inspiring me to work hard \u2013 every time you won this week, I thought \u2018I\u2019ve got to win too\u2019.\u201d\"serena-williams-wins-australian-open-defeats-sister-venus-09\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pressure had started to take a heavier toll on Serena as she closed in on major records in recent years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She fell in two Grand Slam finals last year before claiming a seventh Wimbledon crown in July.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And in the battle of the two oldest Australian Open finalists in the Open Era, neither player was able to capitalise early on, with the weight of history showing on Serena.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When she slipped changing direction for a drop shot in the third game of the match she snapped her racquet in fury, drawing an immediate code violation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite going on to break for 2-1, a third double fault ensured a fourth-straight service break to open the match.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where Serena had become accustomed to dominating and intimidating her opponents without the loss of a set this tournament, she was being pushed back and dealt a dose of her own medicine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She raised her level, however, to bring up break point with an exceptional backhand volley winner before thundering a backhand down the line for 4-3.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She closed out the opening set with back-to-back aces.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the crowd rallying behind her, the 36-year-old Venus \u2013 making her 17th appearance at Melbourne Park \u2013 dug deep to avoid the early break in the second set, hitting back-to-back forehand winners to hold from 0-40 down for 2-1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sensing her opportunity to end it in two, however, Serena converted on a third break point opportunity for 4-3 with a 138km\/h backhand return winner leaving Venus stranded.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the first major final between the siblings since Wimbledon 2009, Serena would close out her 17th triumph from 28 meetings after 82 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations Serena on No.23,\u201d Venus said.\"serena-williams-wins-australian-open-defeats-sister-venus-10\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them I\u2019ve been right there with you, some of them I\u2019ve been right there against you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYour win has always been my win. All the times I couldn\u2019t be there, wouldn\u2019t be there, didn\u2019t get there, you were there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enormously proud of you. You\u2019re the world to me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

When asked what would happen should she reach 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Serena put the numbers into perspective perfectly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThen I won\u2019t be in the Jordans anymore,\u00a0 she meant she would not be playing tennis in Jordans, but will surely continue to wear Jordans\u00a0.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serena stands tallest<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By her own admission, Serena Williams just wanted to win one Grand Slam \u2013 now, she has 23 of them, and counting.\"AAmls2U\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, is Serena Williams the greatest tennis player in history?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adding a seventh Australian Open crown to seven Wimbledon titles, six US Opens and three French Opens lifts her career Grand Slam tally to 23, seeing the American take sole ownership of that most coveted of titles: the most decorated Grand Slam champion in the Open era. Only Margaret Court, whose 24-title career bridged the amateur and Open eras, has more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So is 23 majors enough? Or does Serena have another target to reach for, another Everest to conquer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If she does, she\u2019s not telling.\"Serena+Williams+2017+Australian+Open+Day+4+6zwCn9uqr51l\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI never had a number,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThat’s the beauty of it. When I started this journey, I just wanted to win a Grand Slam. Then I just wanted to win. Every time I step on the court, I want to win. It’s just really remarkable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serena Jameka Williams wins an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles crown by defeating sister Venus in the women\u2019s final. Serena Williams has won a record 23rd Grand Slam women\u2019s singles title, taking her seventh Australian Open crown with a 6-4 6-4 victory over sister Venus Williams on Saturday night at Rod Laver Arena. Her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,1314,1456,1156,13,14,1,7,17,9,10],"tags":[1555,1612,1417,1607,1614,1311,1312,1288,1566,1341,1608,1287,1609,1606,1610,1599,1110,1605,1604,1613,27,1611,1600],"class_list":["post-12198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-entertainment","category-global-business-entrepreneurs","category-global-news-updates-and-more","category-global-sports","category-health","category-most-commented","category-news","category-sports","category-tennis","category-us","category-world","tag-1555","tag-1612","tag-1417","tag-1607","tag-1614","tag-1311","tag-1312","tag-1288","tag-1566","tag-1341","tag-1608","tag-1287","tag-1609","tag-australian-open-wins-2003","tag-french-open-wins-2002","tag-serena-jameka-williams-makes-it-23","tag-serena-williams-no-1-world-ranked-player","tag-serena-williams-the-goat-of-international-tennis","tag-serena-williams-wins-the-2017-australian-open","tag-u-s-open-wins-1999","tag-venus-williams","tag-wimbledon-wins-2002","tag-wins-an-open-era-record-23rd-grand-slam-singles-crown","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}