Top seed and world No. 1 Serena Williams has won the Australian Open on Saturday night, defeating second-ranked Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-6 (5). The American captures her 19th Grand Slam title with the victory.
Williams surpasses Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova at 19 majors, and wins the U.S. and Australian Opens back to back for the third time in her career and first since 2009.
The victory extends Williams’ dominance over Sharapova with her 16th consecutive win, dating back to this event 10 years ago. The 33-year-old is now 17-2 against her Russian rival, who was chasing a sixth major.
Williams will maintain her world No. 1 ranking on Monday after winning her sixth Australian Open crown. She extends her record of most titles here in the Open Era with six, while four women have won this tournament four times.
The American now sets her sights on Steffi Graf’s record 22 Grand Slams.
The win also moved Williams’ record to 100-32 against top 5 opponents, and perhaps more notably she has won 11 straight finals on tour, dating back to Cincinnati in 2013.
At 33 years and 127 days oldn, Serena is the oldest woman to win this crown, her first victory in Melbourne since 2010.
