Kerber out to spoil Serena's party again, this time in Wimbledon final

SW34 is TENNIS.com's Wimbledon blog providing on-site news, insight and commentary about a pair of legendary 34-year-olds, Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

LONDON—In Saturday’s Wimbledon final, Angelique Kerber will try to end Serena Williams’ bid for a 22nd Grand Slam for the second time this year.

At the Australian Open, Kerber stunned both herself and Williams to win her first Grand Slam, but playing on Centre Court will be different.

“I think it will be [a] completely new match because we are playing here on grass,” Kerber said. “It's a little bit different, the game style. But I will try to go out, being confident, [and] believe in myself that I can beat her.”

The two have never faced off on turf—though Williams leads their head to head 5-2—but belief shouldn’t be too hard to find since the German’s last match against Williams was a triumphant 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win in Melbourne.

“I made a lot of errors,” Williams said of that loss. “She made little to no unforced errors. It was still a three‑set match. I felt like I could have played better.

“…Obviously it's significant that she beat me in Australia, because that's the last time we did play. And also, just as an opponent, she's great. She does things well. She moves excellent. She's fun to play.”

Still, that match was over six months ago, and a lot has changed since then. The world No. 4’s results have been up and down since January. Opening-round losses have plagued her. She dropped her openers in Doha and Indian Wells right after winning the Australian Open, and was upset in her first matches in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros right after winning Stuttgart.

“I learned from my up and downs,” the 28-year-old said. “I know how to handle all the stuff which I'm doing off court … I mean, I played good in Miami, and I won Stuttgart, as well. In Paris, it was actually too much pressure that I put on myself. I learned from everything.”

She’ll need to draw on her experience, which she lacked in Melbourne, but not let it hinder the fearless play that Williams referred to with some awe.

“She came out swinging, ready to win,” Williams said. “She was fearless. That's something I learned. When I go into a final, I, too, need to be fearless like she was. It was inspiring afterwards to realize there's a lot of things that I need to improve on.”

The fact that a 21-time Grand Slam champion is talking about still learning and improving should scare Kerber a little bit. Another thing she’ll be wary of is Williams’ calm and confident demeanor, which has been evident as the fortnight has progressed. The world No. 1 is seemingly unaffected by any momentous occasions on Centre Court.

“I think I've been training my mind for years and years, and I've been preparing for these moments for decades,” the 34-year-old said. “I feel like it's been experience and it's been success; it's been failure. It's been everything that created the opportunity for me to be able to be ready in those situations.”

Watching Williams dispatch Elena Vesnina in 48 minutes on Thursday, it seems like no one can ever be as relaxed and confident as she is right now. Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges throughout Kerber’s career has been handling pressure and nerves.

“I mean, I was a little bit nervous when I go out there, because I was trying to [play] my best tennis,” she said after beating Venus Williams in the semifinals.

Calmness is something Kerber will try to channel.

“It's another tough match before me,” she said. “I’m trying [to not think] about this pressure, because I know that when I put too much pressure on myself, I will not play my best tennis.”

Kerber is also benefiting from having spent some quality time in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, the woman who owns one more Grand Slam than Serena.

“It’s always a great honor to speak with [Graf],” Kerber said. “…Actually, she just told me the last time that I'm on a good way. Just believe in yourself, practice hard.”

Any one-on-one time with Graf serves as a boost, as the German is often referred to as the greatest of all time. Williams’ name has, of course, been thrown into the GOAT conversation a lot in recent years.

“I prefer 'one of the greatest athletes of all time,’” Williams said, putting that debate to rest for now.

There’s little doubt that Graf will be watching her compatriot try, once again, to stop Williams at Grand Slam No. 21 on Saturday.