For a player whose last Wimbledon title came 20 years ago against
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Steffi Graf may have an influence on both Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber in today's Wimbledon final.
A Kerber win would make her the first German to win on Centre Court since Graf beat the Spaniard, while the over-riding goal for Williams is to defeat the trepidation that has denied her a podium place alongside Graf.
All year long Williams has chased the elusive Grand Slam that would take her total to 22 wins, equalling Graf’s open era record.
Kerber has Graf on her shoulder as well and has spoken to her and visited her home in Las Vegas where she hit with both the former champion and her husband Andre Agassi, who like his wife won all four Majors.
Historic occasion
Graf is not a regular visitor to Wimbledon but few will be surprised if she arrives to mark a historic occasion for Germany or her adopted country, the US.
“Yes, I also played a little bit with Andre,” said Kerber. “With both . . . this year after Indian Wells. I spent a few days there in Las Vegas with Andre and Steffi. When you hit with her, she’s still playing really well.
“For me it was an honour. It was always great to go there and play with them, talking with them. They are both champions and also great persons.”
Each step by Williams to line up alongside Graf has been thwarted, first in Melbourne by Kerber and again in Paris by Garbiñe Muguruza. As is often the case when making history the final step is the hardest to make. But there is no escaping the world number one’s desire to be seen as one of the greatest woman athletes of all time.
“I prefer the words ‘one of the best athletes of all time’,” she said.
“I feel good. I felt great in other tournaments as well. But I feel a little different. I just feel more relaxed and more at peace than I may have been in the past. You know, just sometimes when you are fighting, sometimes you want something so bad, it can hinder you a little bit. Now I’m just a little bit more calm.”
Vast difference
Kerber is 28 years old and Williams 34 but there is a vast difference in experience. It is Williams’s 28th Grand Slam final and she has lost just six of the previous 27; it is Kerber’s second time playing on the last day.
Kerber moves better than the number one and against Williams’s sister Venus she put the ball back almost every time. She has a great engine, is a lefty and will force Williams to play heavy ground strokes or she will return them.
Williams’s serve is her point-getter and it hasn’t always fired, though winning on Centre Court six times before gives her an advantage. Another win would also equal Graf’s Wimbledon record of seven wins but leave her two short of Martina Navratilova on nine.
“My goal has never been 22. I don’t talk of it any more,” she said.
If she beats Kerber, Graf will disappear and so will the number 22. What will replace it, though, will be Margaret Court and 24. She knows that already.
