After 33 Grand Slam attempts, Kerber has at last earned a major opportunity after a 7-5 6-2 win over Johanna Konta. It followed a first-round win over Misaki Doi, where she saved match point in the second set tiebreak, and a first-ever win over Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. Capitalising on a shaky start from her less-experienced opponent, Kerber gained a pair of service breaks to take a 3-0 lead over Konta in the first set. The Brit responded superbly, winning the following three games to level the match. Games remained on serve but Kerber faced the most pressure when she had to serve to stay in the set at 4-5. A stunning forehand winner at 30-0 showed she was unfazed; Konta, by contrast, was adding to her error tally. As confidence grew for the 28-year-old, Konta gradually unravelled. Dropping serve in the 12th game gave Kerber the 49-minute first set and she added to the lead by breaking Konta’s serve again in the first game of the opening set. There would be no recovery for the Brit this time around. With Kerber gaining another break in the fifth game, she was able to calmly serve it out three games later. Her 14 winners outnumbered her unforced her error count by three, and more significant still was that she’d held her nerve on such a big occasion. As Williams prepares for her seventh Australian Open final and 26th major final overall, Kerber has an added incentive in her first Grand Slam final in Melbourne – protecting her countrywoman Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles, which Serena would tie with another victory here.
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