{"id":30173,"date":"2017-01-28T22:41:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T22:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=30173"},"modified":"2017-01-28T22:42:27","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T22:42:27","slug":"australian-open-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=30173","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"1485600705\"Sports desk: Serena Williams beat sister Venus in straight sets to win her seventh Australian Open and an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.<\/p>\n

Serena, 35, won 6-4 6-4 to pass Steffi Graf in the all-time list of major winners since the Grand Slams accepted professional players in 1968.<\/p>\n

The American regains the number one ranking from German Angelique Kerber.<\/p>\n

Australia's Margaret Court, with 24, is the only player still ahead of Serena in terms of Grand Slam singles titles.<\/p>\n

“Congratulations Serena on number 23,” said Venus, who at 36 was the oldest Australian Open finalist in the Open era.<\/p>\n

“I have been right there with you, some of them I lost right there against you. It's been an awesome win.<\/p>\n

“I'm enormously proud of you, you mean the world to me. I, God willing, would love to come back. Thank you for all the love.”<\/p>\n

Serena paid tribute to her sister, who was playing her first major final for eight years, saying: “There's no way I would be at 23 without her. There's no way I'd be at one without her. She's my inspiration.<\/p>\n

“She's the only reason I'm standing here today. She's the only reason the Williams sisters exist. Thank you for inspiring me. Every time you won this week, I felt like I got a win too.”<\/p>\n

Favourite Serena too strong for Venus<\/p>\n

Serena went into the match as a strong favourite, but the tension was apparent as early as the third game when she smashed a racquet in frustration, receiving a code violation.<\/p>\n

She had broken serve in the first and third games only to hand the advantage straight back each time, three double faults inexplicably littering a desperate game for 2-2.<\/p>\n

It was clear the six-time champion was struggling to settle, with 13 unforced errors in the opening five games, while elder sister Venus kept her under pressure with some deep hitting.<\/p>\n

The decisive move of the set came with a superb drop volley followed by a thumping forehand winner from Serena to break for 4-3, and this time she managed to consolidate on serve.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the opening stages, the following nine games went with serve – Venus recovering superbly from 0-40 early in the second set – but it was Serena who was creating the chances.<\/p>\n

She finally capitalised on her sixth break point of the set with a brilliant return to lead 4-3 and followed it up with her best service game of the match for 5-3.<\/p>\n

The crowd on Rod Laver Arena had been backing Venus from the beginning as she tried to win a first major title for eight years, and all the more so as defeat loomed and she appeared to struggle physically.<\/p>\n

There was a huge cheer when she held serve to force her sister to serve out the match, but Serena recovered from 15-30 to earn match point and fell back on the court in celebration as her sister sent the ball floating wide.<\/p>\n

BBC\/LY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports desk: Serena Williams beat sister Venus in straight sets to win her seventh Australian Open and an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title. Serena, 35, won 6-4 6-4 to pass Steffi Graf in the all-time list of major winners since the Grand Slams accepted professional players in 1968. The American regains the number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n