Serena Williams’ dominant serves lifted her to an easy victory in the Australian Open final, 6-3, 7-5 over Maria Sharapova.
The landslide win burnished Wililams’ reputation as the best player in women’s tennis and perhaps the best in the history of the sport. It was Williams’ sixth Aussie Open title, a record, and her 19th grand slam. Sharpova hasn’t beaten Williams in any tournament since 2005.
At age 33, she’s three wins behind Steffi Graf for the all-time record for Grand Slam tournament victories. But Serena has never actually won the big prize, a Grand Slam that consists of winning the Austrailan Open, the US Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, in the same year. She could tie Graf by winning the other three in 2015.
With her 19th Grand Slam single victory, she surpasses Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in the record books, putting her in second place behind the aforementioned Graf.
Even more amazing: Williams won the title with a cold that she’s been nursing for days.
Another step towards being called The GOAT.
