I’m enormously proud of you, you mean the world to me… God willing, I would love to come back. Thank you for all the love.
Frustrated by a slip, Serena cracked her Wilson racquet to the court in the third game before settling in for her second straight break. Smashing the racquet seemed to loosen Serena’s swing. Audible gasps from the crowd at the pace of some shots the sisters traded prompted chair umpire Alison Hughes to ask for quiet while the ball was in play. Exploiting a tense two double fault game from her sister enabled Venus to break back before stamping the first hold at 30 for 3-2. Settling in on return and moving her feet faster helped the six-time champion shake the nerves. Serena slashed backhand return down the line, followed it forward and spun a slick backhand drop volley winner, Federer-style, for break point. Bolting a backhand return winner down the opposite sideline, Serena scored her third break for 4-3 sending fiancé Alexis Ohanian out of his seat in celebration. That break settled Serena as she belted a backhand down the line snatching her third straight game.
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2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN REVIEW
Sliding her seventh ace down the middle, Serena sealed the 41-minute opener at love. She was one set from history and a historic Grand Slam closer: the younger Williams was 20-0 when winning the opening set in Grand Slam finals. Both sisters ravaged second-serve returns throughout the first set. Venus won 10 of 14 points played on Serena’s second serve, while Serena won eight of nine points played on big sister’s second serve in the opener. Defending her serve with vigor in the semifinals, Venus denied 12 of 13 break points rallying past CoCo Vandeweghe. Serena is quicker off the mark and a more accurate returner than CoCo and quickly jumped out to a triple break point lead in the third game of set two. Seeing older sister wobble, crowd encouragement spiked. Venus’ serve sharpened and she fought off all three break points finishing with a flying forehand down the line for 2-1. Elevating into serve, Venus slid an ace out wide, holding at 15 for 3-2—the eighth straight hold in a match that began with four consecutive breaks.