This Australian Open final was all about a sisterly rivalry and making history. No matter who won, records would be broken and the love between two sisters would only grow stronger. Of course, for many people, this trophy was already Serena's even before the match started.
Venus hadn't beaten her sister in any Grand Slam match — let alone a title match — since Wimbledon in 2008. Coming into this final, Serena hadn't dropped a set throughout the tournament, seemingly dismantling every opponent she came across, and Venus was pushed far more by opponents like CoCo Vandeweghe and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
In short, Serena looked more ravenous for her prize; she wasn't going to let affection for her sister stop her climb to the top.
As expected, history repeated itself and Serena had very little trouble claiming her 23rd Grand Slam and taking back the No. 1 ranking, defeating her sister 6-4, 6-4, officially not dropping a set in the entire tournament.
During her on-court speech, there was nothing but love for Venus and vice-versa.
"This was a tough one," Serena Williams said. "I really would like to take this moment to congratulate Venus, she's an amazing person — she's my inspiration."
"There's no way I would be at 23 without her — there's no way I would be at one without her. Thank-you Venus for inspiring me to be the best player I can be and inspiring me to work hard."
Afterwards, one question remained.
Is Serena Williams officially the greatest woman player of all time? In short, who knows.
People are still arguing about whether Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic is the greatest of all time; this debate doesn't ever end because there is no specific criteria for G.O.A.T status. At this point, most fans would agree that she is at least the greatest in the Open Era, having surpassed Steffi Graf's record of 22 majors.
Of course, now she has to overcome Margaret Court's all-time tennis record of 24 majors, who was in the crowd watching the final.
However, until Serena gets to No. 25, this question will never be answered. One thing is definitely for certain: she is a whirlwind of talent, longevity and tenacity. Serena is a true testament to the idea of "greatness," which was shown so well during and after this Australian Open final.
As expected, the Twitter-sphere blew up after Serena's victory with congratulations coming from everywhere.
Despite losing her No. 1 ranking, Angelique Kerber was ecstatic for the American.
