Serena Williams won the Australian Open grand slam title against Maria Sharapova in the first major of the year, taking her 19th career championship after a tough 6-3, 7-6 (5) win on Saturday as the top two women in the world faced off.
Williams has dominated Sharapova in her career, winning 16 straight matches over her and now another major championship in Australia. Williams is now the oldest winner of the Australian Open women's title at 33 years old and is second all-time in major winners in the Open era, according to ESPN.com. Sharapova won over Williams over a decade ago at Wimbledon, but since then she has only won once against Williams and that was back in 2004.
Williams had Sharapova on the ropes at the end, but she was able to save two match points and push things for a bit. Williams has been dominant over the past few years and she has continued that and she showed plenty of emotion while going through the match. Williams said Sharapova is one of her best opponents and Sharapova praised Williams afterwards, calling her the best in the game.
"I'm so honored to be here and to hold this 19th trophy," Williams said to ESPN. "I didn't think it would happen this fast, to be honest, but it feels really good."
