Serena Williams falls to Angelique Kerber in Wimbledon final
Novak Djokovic outlasts Rafael Nadal to reach Sunday's men's final
Angelique Kerber was so steady, so patient, so accurate throughout the Wimbledon final. She never really gave Serena Williams much of a chance.
Kerber won her first championship at the All England Club and third major overall by playing cleanly as can be and picking her spots for big shots, beating Williams 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
"I knew that I had to play my best tennis against a champion like Serena," said Kerber, the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
She prevented Williams from claiming an eighth title at Wimbledon and 24th from all Grand Slam tournaments, which would have equalled Margaret Court's record.
Williams gave birth only 10 months ago, then was treated for blood clots. She wore special compression leggings as a precaution during Wimbledon, just the fourth tournament of her comeback.
Williams pays tribute to moms
After all the time away, Williams spoke about being impressed with herself for just reaching the final. She also wanted to win, of course.
"To all the moms out there, I was playing for you today — and I tried," said the 36-year-old American, her voice shaking during the trophy ceremony.
"Angelique played really well," Williams said. "She played out of her mind."
Kerber made only five unforced errors the entire match, 19 fewer than Williams. Perhaps more impressive was this: She broke Williams in 4 of 9 service games.
The 30-year-old German lost to Williams in the 2016 Wimbledon final. She beat Williams in the Australian Open final that year, then won that year's U.S. Open to briefly replace her at No. 1 in the rankings.
Kerber addressed Williams during the on-court interviews, saying: "You're such an inspiration for everybody, for all of us. I'm sure you will have your next Grand Slam title soon. I'm really, really sure."
Djokovic advances to 5th final
Earlier, Novak Djokovic sent the strongest signal yet that he is back at full strength by reaching his fifth Wimbledon final with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 10-8 victory over rival Rafael Nadal on Saturday in a match suspended overnight.
Djokovic is bidding for a fourth championship at the All England Club and 13th Grand Slam title overall.
He'll face Kevin Anderson in Sunday's final. Anderson beat John Isner in a 6½-hour semifinal that ended at 26-24 fifth set Friday night, pushing back the start of Djokovic vs. Nadal.
The second semifinal then was halted when the third set ended just past 11 p.m. local time, because of a neighborhood curfew. It had started with Centre Court's retractable roof closed and so concluded that way, too, even though there was no hint of rain.
Djokovic hasn't won a major in more than two years, dealing with an injured right elbow that was so painful in 2017 he quit his quarterfinal at Wimbledon and sat out the rest of the season.
He had surgery in February, but his results were still shaky. Until now, that is.
Undaunted by losing his lead and being forced to an extra set, Djokovic saved break points at 4-all and 7-all in the fifth, before breaking Nadal at love to end things.