Serena Williams wins Auckland Open with victory over Jessica Pegula
Written by MAX FM on January 13, 2020
American tennis superstar, Serena Williams, broke a three-year deadlock and won her first major trophy since becoming a mom on Saturday night, January 12, with a resounding victory over Jessica Pegula in New Zealand.
The mother of one, proved critics wrong after winning the Auckland Open in historical style, beating her fellow American 6-3, 6-4.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion had lost a handful of finals including the Wimbledon in 2018 and US Open final in 2018.
Serena was also forced to retire from Rogers Cup final in 2019 after been hit by injury but fought back with a final victory in 2020- her first since welcoming her daughter Olympia in 2017.
With the win, Serena moved into the history book, becoming the third-oldest woman to win a WTA tournament behind Billie Jean King (39) and Kimiko Date-Krumm (38). Astonishingly, the American tennis champion became the first person to win singles titles in four different decades.
“It feels good. It’s been a long time, I think you could see the relief on my face,” said Williams after winning Auckland Classic over Pegula “I have been playing for so long and been through so much and I’m happy to be doing something I love.”
Picture credit from CNN
Serena also made an incredible gesture by announcing that she would donate her $43,000 Auckland prize money to Australian bushfire relief.
The tragic inferno was reported to have killed over one billion animals in Australia, plunging the wildlife world into mourning.
