Serena Williams is savouring her record sixth Australian Open triumph, saying she can’t believe she’s now a 19-times grand slam champion.
“Growing up, I wasn’t rich but I had a rich family in spirit and support,” Williams said after continuing her decade-long domination of Maria Sharapova with a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) final victory at Melbourne Park on Saturday night.
“Standing here with 19 majors is something I never thought would happen. I went on the court with a ball, a racquet and a hope, and that’s all I had.”
Adding another chapter to tennis’s most one-sided rivalry, Williams outclassed the Russian for a 16th consecutive time to surpass legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert as America’s most prolific grand slam singles champion.
The all-conquering world No.1 is edging ever closer to Australian Margaret Smith Court’s all-time benchmark tally of 24 career majors.
The 33-year-old is the oldest Open champion of the professional era, yet the ageless champion is showing no signs of slowing down.
Williams has now won six of the past 13 majors since turning 30 and, even more remarkably, since recovering from a life-threatening blood clot on her lungs in 2011.
The game’s fiercest competitor spent almost 12 months laid up after slashing her foot celebrating her 2010 Wimbledon triumph and then suffering a pulmonary embolism before her extraordinary renaissance.
“I didn’t think I’d ever be back on court. I really didn’t,” Williams said, recalling her harrowing ordeal.
“I was in the hospital thinking: ‘Am I going to make it out?’
“But I was super calm, I didn’t want to alarm my parents.
“Then I remember asking the doctor: Am I going to be able to play tennis again, you know, because it was my career.
“So, yeah, it was very interesting and everything now I savour a little bit more.
“Also, it’s helped me to relax, being able to win so many, because I know that life is very short and anything can happen at any given time and it takes a strong person to get through it.”
Saturday night’s blockbuster final was billed as the first title showdown in more than 11 years featuring the world’s top two players, but Williams swept to glory in straight sets to repeat her 6-1 6-2 mauling of Sharapova in the 2007 decider at Melbourne Park.
Williams is also now six from six in Australian Open finals and she hasn’t lost a grand slam title match of any sort since Samantha Stosur somehow defeated the home favourite in New York on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
No matter what the surface, nor the colour – grass, cement, green clay, red clay, Rebound Ace and now Plexicushion blue – Williams has owned Sharapova for more than a decade.
The Russian pin-up may be the most-photographed and highest-earning female on the planet, but Williams is rapidly becoming the most successful women’s athlete of all time.
