Then there was the last box that needed ticking – without doubt the toughest one of all.
It’s one thing to get ahead in a match like this.
How do you finally get over the finish line, when thinking about the finish line is without doubt the worst thing you can possibly do?
At the start of the third set, the finish line appeared in sight for Kerber, and she knew she had to cross it all by herself.
The crowd was trying their best to hold her hand, guide her in the right direction, but ultimately it’s a bridge that you must cross all on your own.
It needed to be over, and she needed to make it over.
In the third set, Kerber broke first for a 2-0 lead with a forehand winner down the line to break Williams to love. Dagger.
Of course you get broken straight back – that’s just the way it works.
Things ultimately got sideways for Williams serving at 2-3 in the third. It was a game that had five deuces. Williams hit two aces in the game, but two double faults stopped her in her tracks.
Kerber raced to an unthinkable 5-2 lead, and Williams broke Kerber when she served for it at 5-3. Nothing is ever as straight-forward as you want it to be.
On championship point, with Williams serving at 4-5, ad out, Kerber put a backhand return in play, but it was way too short. Too short was actually the best thing that could have happened.
Williams had no option but to approach, taking her out of her comfort zone of the baseline, and into the tightness of the net.
Kerber made Williams hit a forehand volley standing right in the middle of the court.
Williams pushed it long, and Kerber laid down on the baseline and immediately burst into tears.
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