Serena Williams sees off sister Venus to win Grand Slam number 23

Serena Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title, moving her clear of Steffi Graf, with a 6-4 6-4 win over sister Venus in the final of the Australian Open.

Serena Williams of the US (R) celebrates with the championship trophy

Image credit: AFP

The younger Williams struggled in the opening set with her serve as the two sisters traded breaks, but she came through strongly in the second to win her seventh title in Australian and reclaim the world number one status from Angelique Kerber.

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The only person to win more Grand Slam titles than Serena is Margaret Court, who with 24 to her name is now tantalisingly within reach for the woman widely regarded as the greatest to ever play the game; at 35, she is also the oldest ever winner of a Grand Slam in the open era.

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Venus missed the chance to win her eighth Grand Slam title and first in Australia, but her stirring run to the final was still one of the stories of the tournament. Serena paid tribute to her sister after clinching the win:

Venus's runner-up speech was gracious and touching as she hailed her younger sibling, and hinted that at 36, she is not done yet with the Australian Open.

It was a tense start and neither player was able to hold serve until Venus took the fifth game. Serena was the worst afflicted by the nerves, and she smashed her racket in a rage in just the third game after she slipped behind the baseline when chasing down a ball. She double-faulted three times to be broken a second time, causing a gasp from the crowd.

But galvanised by her serve, Serena soon settled and the blistering groundstrokes from the baseline began to find their mark as she surged to a 5-3 lead before sealing the set by thumping a pair of aces. With Serena renowned as one of the best front-runners in the game, Venus showed her readiness to scrap, and she saved three break points to hold in the third game. But she was never on safe ground, with Serena feasting on her second serve.

Serena pounced in the seventh game, firing a searing backhand return to break and served out to love to come within a game of the title.

Having dragged Serena to 15-30 at 5-4 on her serve, Venus dropped her racket in despair as she hammered a forehand into the net to give up match point.

Serena needed no further reason and after a furious exchange of shots, she charged in to the net swinging to claim yet another major title.