That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check out Russell Jackson’s full match report from Melbourne Park.
Serena shows off some special footwear in the wake of her record-breaking title. Those are custom Jordan 1s with the number 23 emblazoned on the heel.
Serena changed into these icy custom Jordan 1s commemorating her record-breaking 23rd major for the trophy ceremony. pic.twitter.com/YK2SMP7U8D
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) January 28, 2017
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Serena will return to No1 in Monday’s rankings after ceding the top to Angelique Kerber after the US Open. Venus will climb to No11.
Serena will return to No. 1 in Monday's rankings. Venus will rise to No. 11. pic.twitter.com/dXkkUD9JYz
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) January 28, 2017
Serena Williams now steps forward and lifts the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for the seventh time. “I really would like to take this moment to congratulate Venus, she’s an amazing person,” the 23-time major champion says. “There’s no way I would be at 23 without her. There’s no way I would be at one without her. There’s no way I would be anything without her. She’s the only reason the Williams sisters exist.
“I definitely think she’ll be standing here next year. i don’t like the word comeback but she’s never left.”
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Venus now addressing the crowd: “Serena Williams, that’s my little sister, guys.”
“I’ve been right there with you, some of them I lost right there against you,” Venus says. “I’m enormously proud of you, you mean the world to me.”
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Serena becomes the first player to win the Australian Open without dropping a set since Maria Sharapova in 2008. She’s now won a preposterous 10 grand slam titles since her 30th birthday, the most by far in the Open era. The only other players on the list: Margaret Court (three), Martina Navratilova (two), Chris Evert (two), Billie Jean King (two), Ann Jones (one), Li Na (one), Flavia Pennetta (one) and Virginia Wade (one).
Serena Williams wins 6-4, 6-4 for her 23rd major title, most of any player in the Open era. Nike sure didn’t waste any time, running this spot on ESPN in the first ad break after the match ended.
Greatest ever. @serenawilliams #justdoit pic.twitter.com/NrU4R4k0yD
— Nike (@Nike) January 28, 2017
Serena wins second set and match!
Second set: Serena 6-4 Venus
A sizzling backhand winner from Venus makes it love-30, but she blocks a serve into the net on the next point for 15-all. Venus then outlasts Serena on the longest point of the match – a 24-stroke rally, longest of the match – for 15-30 and the crowd is on their feet! An unforced error by Venus on another long rally makes it 30-all and Serena is now two points from the title. Now another unforced error gives Serena a championship point. There’s that fist pump. Then Serena forces Venus into an error and it’s finished! She falls to the court with her arms raised! Venus comes around the net to embrace her younger sister. History has been made!
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Second set: *Serena 5-4 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus hits an overhand smash winner, but Serena follows with a forehand winner for 15-all. Serena then just misses on a cross-court backhand from the baseline and Venus dials in an ace for 40-15. A Serena miss gives Venus the game, but now the world No2 will have a chance to serve for the championship, the No1 ranking and the record for most grand slam titles in the Open era. No pressure.
Second set: Serena 5-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena consolidates with a clinical love hold including a thunderous ace down the middle on the second point, her 10th of the match. Venus will now serve to stay in the tournament.
Serena breaks in seventh game of second set!
Second set: *Serena 4-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus feeling the heat serving at 15-30 but responds with a thudding ace down the middle. Serena then gets the best of her sister on a 16-shot rally – the best point of the match so far – to give herself a break-point chance. Venus saves it by forcing Serena into an error for deuce, but Serena pounces on a second serve for a winner and has another break chance. This time she capitalizes, crushing a backhand winner for a break that could prove fatal the way she’s been serving.
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Second set: Serena 3-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
A delicate touch volley by Venus makes it 15-all, but a series of loose points gives Serena an easy hold. Still on serve in the second.
Second set: *Serena 2-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
A comfortable hold for Venus capped by a thudding ace. We’ve now gone eight games without a break of serve after service breaks in four of the first five games.
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Second set: Serena 2-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena opens with an unforced error from the backhand side but rattles off three straight points for 40-15. She then mixes in a double fault for 40-30 – her fifth of the match – but Venus nets a forehand on the approach to gift Serena the hold.
Second set: *Serena 1-2 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus falls behind love-30 on her serve then mixes in a double fault to give Serena three looks at a break point. She wipes away the first two then crushes a forehand winner on the approach for deuce. She forces Serena into an error on the next point then pounds another forehand winner for the crucial hold from love-40 down. What an escape!
Second set: Serena 1-1 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena on a roll now. She’s thuds and ace for 30-love then a service winner for 40-love and she’s now won 11 straight points on her serve extending back to the first set. Serena mixes in a pair of unforced errors from the backhand side but wins the next point to seal the hold.
Second set: *Serena 0-1 Venus (*denotes next server)
Venus with a drama-free hold to open the second set, capping it with an emphatic backhand winner. Serena continuing to attack the second serve: Venus is a scant 2-for-11 on those points.
Serena wins first set!
First set: Serena 6-4 Venus
Serena responds with her easiest game of the match, holding at love and capping it with consecutive aces to finish off the first set in 41 minutes.
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First set: *Serena 5-4 Venus (*denotes next server)
Serena continues to pressure Venus, but the elder sister fights back from love-15 and 15-30 down to finish off the hold. Serena will serve after the changeover for the first set. No small matter, given Serena is 20-0 lifetime in grand slam finals when she wins the opener.
First set: Serena 5-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Venus opens the game with a gorgeously struck forehand winner on the run, then forces Serena into an error for love-30. Venus then sends a forehand long from the baseline to cap a lengthy rally, with Serena following with a 113mph ace out wide for 30-all. Venus then makes another backhand error and Serena consolidates the break with a winner. Venus now to serve to stay in the first set.
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Serena breaks in seventh game of first set!
First set: *Serena 4-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
At 15-all, Venus thuds an ace but then follows with a double fault for 30-all. Serena then delivers a backhand volley winner to earn another break-point chance, capitalizing with a backhand winner for the break. Serena moving her feet far better now than she was earlier in the match and now within touching distance of the opener.
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First set: Serena 3-3 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Venus hits a forehand winner then Serena makes another unforced error to make it love-30. A big chance for Venus here, but she makes an error then watches as Serena booms an ace for 30-all. Another unforced error for Serena makes it 40-30 before Serena finishes off the hold. Still on serve in the first.
First set: *Serena 2-3 Venus (*denotes next server)
More error-strewn play from Serena as Venus is able to negotiate the first hold of the match. Still, they’re on level terms with Serena to serve at 2-3.
Venus breaks in fourth game of first set!
First set: Serena 2-2 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena’s second ace makes it 30-love, but an ensuing error and a Venus backhand winner makes it 30-all. Venus then makes an error, but Serena double-faults for deuce. More nerves. Now another double-fault for Serena! That gives Venus a break-point chance, but she saves it with a thudding 101mph ace down the T. Now Serena makes another unforced error from the backhand side to give Venus another look at a break ... and yet another double fault gifts Venus the break! Four service games, four breaks of serve. Serena has been broken eight times in six matches over the fortnight, now she’s been broken twice in the past 21 minutes.
Serena breaks in third game of first set!
First set: *Serena 2-1 Venus (*denotes next server)
Serena clearly tense here with so much at stake: not least the No1 ranking that she ceded last fall to Angelique Kerber after a three-and-a-half-year run on top. At 15-all, Venus double-faults but then follows with a forehand winner for 30-all. She then makes another error to give Serena another look at a break point, but saves it with a forehand volley winner for deuce. Venus moves within a point of the game with another winner but Serena answers and we’re back to deuce. Venus loses the next point to give Serena a break-point chance, but Venus saves it with backhand winner. (A furious Serena, who slipped on the baseline, promptly lays waste to her racket and walks to fetch a replacement.)
Court = 1, Racquet = 0 #Serena vs #Venus #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/If59ZX0bYD
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2017
But Serena’s fury is short-lived as Venus makes unforced errors on the next two points to give Serena another break. Three service breaks in three games so far.
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Venus breaks in second game of first set!
First set: Serena 1-1 Venus* (*denotes next server)
Serena forces Venus into two more errors from the backhand side, but a double fault and a backhand error of her own makes it 30-all. Serena then mixes in her first ace, but then sprays a backhand wide on the first extended rally of the night for deuce. Serena misses off the netcord and Venus will have a chance to break right back. And she does, sending a forehand long from the baseline! Back on level terms in the opener.
Serena breaks in first game of first set!
First set: *Serena 1-0 Venus (*denotes next server)
A foreboding start for the elder Williams as she’s broken in her opening service game. She makes a pair of errors from the backhand side before getting on the board with an ace. Then Serena makes it 15-40 with a backhand winner to set up a pair of break-point chances. She needs only one, taking the early edge with a running backhand winner to pass Venus.
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Hello and welcome to the Australian Open final between the Williams sisters: Venus-Serena XXVIII. The players are nearly done warming up. Some quick stats on their history:
- Serena and Venus have met 27 times, including 14 times at Grand Slams
- Serena holds a 16-11 advantage overall with a 9-5 record at Grand Slams
- Only Evert-Navratilova met more often at the Slams (22 times)
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, read about the ultimate American folk tale:
The story reads like a tall tale, no matter how many times it’s repeated – too incredible to be true and growing only more preposterous with each passing year.
A young father of three in Compton stumbles on a tennis match one Sunday while channel-surfing, struck by astonishment as the winner, a Romanian player named Virginia Ruzici, is presented with a $40,000 check. He decides right then his next two daughters – whom it should be noted were still unborn – will be professional tennis players.
The cotton picker’s son, a high-school dropout whose tennis pedigree could fit on a postage stamp, drills his charges on cracked public courts with 10¢ balls pulled from supermarket carts. How they laugh when he proclaims his daughters, not yet teenagers, will one day play each other for grand slam finals. Venus will be the No1 player in the world. And Serena, he assures, will be even better.
Nearly four decades after he first spotted opportunity in the dim flicker of the tube, all of Richard Williams’ most quixotic predictions have come to pass. If anything he undershot them. This ultimate American folk tale remains a work in progress, the latest instalment forthcoming with Saturday at Melbourne Park when Venus and Serena – the sisters with 29 major singles titles, eight Olympic gold medals and more than $100m in prize money between them – meet once more for the Australian Open title.
