Serena Williams Makes History w/ 22nd Grand Slam Title

Karas Lamb Karas Lamb
Serena Williams Makes Wimbledon History, Claiming 22nd Grand Slam Singles Title To Match Steffi Graf's Open Era Record.
Serena Williams Makes Wimbledon History, Claiming 22nd Grand Slam Singles Title To Match Steffi Graf's Open Era Record.

Photo Credit Clive Brunskill/Getty

Serena Williams made history today at Wimbledon, claiming her 22nd Grand Slam singles title and matching the Open Era record held by Steffi Graf. Williams beat fourth seed Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 to earn her ninth singles title at the All England Club. The massive win today follows two major losses for Williams earlier this year, falling to Kerber at the Australian Open and Garbine Muguruza at the French Open. Reports indicate that the game got off to a slow start before Serena caught fire.

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Serena's win at Wimbledon was capped by a collapse to the court. Her sister Venus Williams applauded the victory from the player's box alongside friends, Jay Z and Beyoncé.

The two punched and counterpunched their way to the brink of a first-set tiebreaker, but two loose errors from Kerber gave Williams two set points. A majestic backhand, deep and in the corner, was too good for Kerber to return. That unleashed a screaming Serena, who suddenly seemed to want this very much.

With Williams serving the seventh game of the second, a break point -- the first of the match -- suddenly appeared. Serena's response was a 117-mph ace, followed by a 124-mph ace -- a quick end to any thoughts of giving in to Kerber.

Serena finished in a blur, winning the last eight points.

"I think I played what I could today," Kerber said in her postmatch interview. "I can just say, I mean, Serena was serving unbelievable today. At the end I was trying everything, but she deserved it today.

"Yeah, I mean, I think I was not the one who [lost] the match. I think she won the match."

Spotted at ESPN & USATODAY.

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