The big story: Sensational Serena leaves Steffi Graf behind
Serena Williams beat her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in the Australian Open women’s singles final to get to her 23rd Grand Slam. With the win, the 35-year-old also got to her seventh win at the Rod Laver arena in Melbourne.
It was Venus who started the game well but Serena soon found her groove. The 35-year-old struggled with her first serve but Venus found the going increasingly hard and missed out on the opportunity to get points on the board from promising situations. In both the sets, Serena broke Venus with the score 4-3 to former. The game was a mere formality from there.
With the win, Serena overtook veteran Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slams and is only one slam away from matching Margret Court’s all-time record.
Other top stories
Tennis
- Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australian John Peers beat 16-time winners Bob and Mike Bryan to lift the Australian Open title with a 7-5, 7-5 win in Melbourne on Saturday.
- 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer and 14-time winner Rafael Nadal face off in the Australian Open final on Sunday.
Cricket
- Bengaluru City Police and DNA Networks, organisers of Indian Premier League matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, have decided to sell tickets for the event only to people who produce their Aadhaar cards, Bangalore Mirror reported.
- South Africa romped to a eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the first One-day International at Port Elizabeth. Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis made fifties. With the ball, Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir picked up three wickets.
- International Special Task Force head Giles Clarke remained hopeful that teams would tour Pakistan in the future.
- Perth Scorchers clinched their third Big Bash League title after beating Sydney Sixers in the final.
- Abhinav Mukund will lead out India A during the tour game against Bangladesh. Off-spinner Jayant Yadav will also feature in the side.
- Cricket South Africa will be looking for a new coach after their side’s tour of England in the summer.
- Former Australian batsman Stuart Law was appointed coach of West Indies.
Football
- Rising Student’s Club came back from a goal down to beat Aizawl FC 5-1 in the opening game of the Indian Women’s League.
- In the second match of the Indian Women’s League, Eastern Sporting Union posted a thumping 7-1 win against Jeppiyar IT.
- Shillong Lajong brushed aside their poor start to the season to put in a commanding display at home on Saturday, beating Mumbai FC 3-1.
- Chennai City FC landed their first win in the history of the I-League with a solid 2-0 win over Aizawl FC.
- Wolverhampton Wanderers stunned Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield as the pressure mounted on Reds, who are enduring a poor run of form.
- Bayern Munich stayed at the top of the Bundesliga table with a 2-1 win away from home. Arjen Robben and David Alaba scored in the first half.
