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Serena Williams emerges from wreckage of women’s draw to make historic final at Wimbledon

By Veronica Elizabeth Bruno

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 12: Serena Williams of USA during her semi-final match against Julia Goerges of Germany on day ten of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 12, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Corbis via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 12: Serena Williams of USA during her semi-final match against Julia Goerges of Germany on day ten of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 12, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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With most of the top seeds at Wimbledon this year dropping like flies, Serena Williams has emerged like a phoenix to make the final, but will Angelique Kerber spoil Serena’s date with history?

Angelique Kerber is one of the few current players to have beaten Serena Williams in a grand slam final in recent years. Kerber has been undergoing her own comeback this year after struggling last year and falling out of the top 20. What was most surprising about her fall from grace was how quickly it occurred after she achieved the top ranking and two grand slam finals, the first female German player since Steffi Graf to achieve so much success in tennis.

But Kerber will be battling Serena Williams on Saturday. Any other year the odds would be stacked against the German, but this has been a comeback year for Williams as well, who has been fighting her way back to top form after giving birth to baby Olympia last year. She had won the Australian Open in 2017 while in the first few months of pregnancy, but she had a difficult delivery, undergoing several surgeries afterward. She tried to come back earlier in the year and faced bitter disappointment. She is also 36 years old. But signs of a turnaround started happening at the French Open, where she made it through the first three rounds.

But Wimbledon is her most successful tournament — tied with the Australian Open (seven titles each) — and the 23-time grand slam champ hadn’t dropped a set until she ran into Camilla Goergi in the semis. It’s been a bizarre Wimbledon, sure, with all the Top 10 women seeds out by the start of week two, but Williams has completed her comeback to the top after so many big names have fallen, including French Open champ and world No. 1 Simona Halep, defending champion Garbine Muguruza, and two-time Wimbledon darling and top WTA titlist this year, Petra Kvitova.

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But Kerber is no pushover. She is also looking to prove herself. She achieved a great deal in 2016, getting to three finals and winning two of them — one over Ms. Williams, but then suffering a major drop in form the following year. She achieved the top ranking but then went out in shock early exits in 2017 and watched much of it slip away. Currently ranked No. 10, she is seeded No. 11 at Wimbledon, but the German has progressed well all year in all the tournaments, including a WTA title win in Sydney at the beginning of the year. She has consistently made it to the quarters and semis at several tournaments. She is also no doormat to Serena, as she’s won two out of their eight meetings, including the second to last time they met at the 2016 Australian Open.

But Williams has a lot on the line she’ll be fighting for on Saturday. There’s the answer to if she’s back. Serena owns the Open record for most grand slams, having beaten Steffi Graf with the Australian Open win last year, but the win on Saturday will tie Margaret Court’s all-time record. She will also be one of a few handful of moms who have slams after giving birth. She would also equal Roger Federer’s record of Wimbledon titles, although Martina Navratilova owns nine on the women’s side.

The women’s final will take place on Saturday and will be viewable on ESPN and ABC.

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