Make room in the trophy case! Serena Williams beat out Maria Sharapova to win her sixth Australian Open and 19th Grand Slam title on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Williams won with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory at Melbourne Park, but not without some drama first. At one point, the tennis pro celebrated prematurely when she thought she hit an ace during her third match point.
“I thought, ‘Wow this is it, I did it, only to hear let. I was like, ‘Okay Serena!'” she said of her reaction, via the Associated Press. “I was very disappointed, because Maria was playing so well. I thought she’s going to try to hit a winner now.”
“I know the rules now. I’m not one to argue unless I’m sure that I’m right,” Williams, 33, added. “If anything I need to relax more. At that point, I was so uptight.”
And sick. The athlete also won despite having a cold the past several days. During the game’s 13-minute rain delay, Williams retreated back to her locker room.
“I had a really bad cough, I ended up throwing up, actually. I think that helped me when I got it out,” she said. “I’ve just got a really bad cold, a really bad cough. Usually when that happens you stay in bed, you don’t play matches every day.”
Sharapova, for her part, is taking her loss in stride. “I haven’t beaten [Williams] in a long time but I love every time I step on the court with her,” the Russian native, 27, said. “I’ve had some of the best memories of my career on this court and also some of my toughest losses, but that’s the life of a tennis player.”