In the wee early hours of this morning, Angelique Kerber became the 2018 Women’s Wimbledon singles champion after defeating Serena Williams.
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Kerber hit the grass running breaking Williams in the very first few games. By the end, she had won the final in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
The 30-year-old who was also victorious at the 2016 Australian Open against Williams ticked off a lifelong dream and pulled off the almighty task of besting the GOAT.
Despite not winning the match, making it to the finals is still a tremendous achievement for Williams who has played just 13 matches since giving birth to gorgeous bb Alexis Olympia, who by the way is the CUTEST.
Despite the actual birthing process being “pretty easy”, Williams battled multiple health issues post-pregnancy that had her spending the first six weeks of motherhood bed-ridden as she recovered.
Williams had developed a pulmonary embolism (a condition where your arteries become blocked by blood clots) which triggered several other complications.
In a moving essay she penned earlier this year for CNN Williams wrote:
“I am lucky to have survived. First my C-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism. I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large hematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen. And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from travelling to my lungs.”
Following her defeat, husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian posted a photo tribute to his wife.
With a picture carrying the words “just getting started” Ohanian captioned the post:
Days after our baby girl was born, I kissed my wife goodbye before surgery and neither of us knew if she would be coming back.
We just wanted her to survive – 10 months later, she’s in the Wimbledon final.
Serena Williams will be holding a trophy again soon—she’s got the greatest one waiting at home for her. Our family knows she’ll win many more trophies, too.
She’s just getting started. And I couldn’t be more proud.
In her post-match interview Williams praised Kerber for her performance and dedicated her play in the finals to “all the moms out there.”
“Honestly I feel like if I can do it, they can do it. I’m just that person, that vessel, that’s saying, ‘You can be whatever you want to be. If you want to go back to work… to me, after becoming a mom, I feel like there’s no pressure to do that because having a child is a completely full-time job.”
The last mother to win Wimbledon was Australian Evonne Goolagon in 1980.
