Kerber Wunderbar in Melbourne

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Angelique Kerber stunned world number one Serena Williams in three sets to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Kerber, seeded seventh, won a thrilling final 6-4 3-6 6-4 at Melbourne Park.

The 28-year-old is the first German to win a major singles title since Steffi Graf at the 1999 French Open.

Williams, 34, was beaten for just the fifth time in 26 Grand Slam finals, and the American missed the chance to tie Graf's open-era record of 22 titles.

Kerber, who saved a match point in her first-round win over Misaki Doi, will move up to number two in the world rankings.

Kerber had won just one of six previous matches against Williams and was making her Grand Slam final debut, but she was the better player over two hours and eight minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

She led Williams in the ace count until the latter stages, limiting her to just seven overall, while the American racked up 46 errors to just 13 by Kerber.

Williams made 23 mistakes in the first set alone - sparking memories of her desperately nervous display in losing to Roberta Vinci at the US Open last September - and Kerber took full advantage to claim it after 39 minutes.

However, the defending champion cut her error count to just five in the second set and claimed it thanks to a single break in game four.

Kerber twice moved ahead in the decider and a stunning sixth game saw the German produce two fine drop shots and win a breathtaking 19-stroke rally to cling on to her serve and edge closer to victory.

Nerves took hold and she was broken while serving for the match, but she launched into the Williams serve once again and clinched the title when the world number one sent a volley long.

Kerber said afterwards that being able to say she was a Grand Slam champion "sounds crazy".

"It's my dream come. I worked for this my whole life," said the German.

"It's been such an up and down two weeks, I was match point down in the first round and had one foot in the plane to Germany.

"Now I have beaten Serena and won the championship. I have so many emotions, so many thoughts, but all of them good ones."

Williams was gracious in defeat, telling Kerber: "Angie, congratulations. You deserve this and I'm so happy for you. I really hope you enjoy this moment."

The runner-up added: "Would I give my performance an A? No, but this is all I could produce.

"I'm not a robot. I do the best that I can. I try to win every point but realistically I can't. Maybe someone else can."

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Murray Makes it Past Milos

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Andy Murray reached his fifth Australian Open final after an epic five-set battle with 13th seed Milos Raonic.

Briton Murray was broken in the first game and his 25-year-old Canadian opponent went on to take the first and third sets.

But the 28-year-old Scotsman prevailed 4-6 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 in a gruelling four-hour contest.

Murray will now meet reigning champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.

"It was tough in that third set. In the tie-break he didn't miss a single serve and it is frustrating when you don't get a say in the points," said Murray.

"Over the match, I got a better read on his serve and that was crucial."

The result means Murray and older sibling Jamie have become the first brothers in the Open era to reach the finals in both the men's singles and men's doubles events at a Grand Slam.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares will play Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek in the doubles final on Saturday.

Fellow Scot Gordon Reid is also on course for an Australian Open double after reaching the final of the men's wheelchair in both the singles and doubles.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash: "This match won't take an awful lot out of Murray - the rallies weren't that long. He was moving very well at the end and was moving confidently. He knows where he failed last year and knows he must keep the pressure up against Djokovic and can't afford any lapses.

"Last year he was at himself the whole time. He shouldn't have been but he couldn't stop himself and for his sake I'm hoping he has learnt the lessons from that."

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller: "Maybe last year Murray didn't believe he could beat Djokovic, but now he's more and more confident in his abilities and Djokovic has been a bit off-key at times, making 100 errors against Gilles Simon."

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Ryder Cup for Tennis Not for Cash

A Ryder Cup-style competition for men's tennis may struggle to win player support, according to former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

Teams from Europe and the Rest of the World will compete annually for the Laver Cup, named after 77-year-old Australian tennis legend Rod Laver.

The inaugural edition of the event is scheduled for September 2017.

"I like the concept but I don't know if players will take it seriously," Cash told Radio 5 live sports extra.

The tournament organisers say each six-man team will be captained by a "a legend of the sport", who will pick two wildcards to add to the four players who qualify through "a results-based formula".

The 12-match competition will take place over three days, with each day featuring three singles matches and a doubles match.

The tournament is the brainchild of Team8, the management agency of 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer, Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo Lemann, a Brazilian businessman who represented both Brazil and Switzerland as a player in the Davis Cup.

Cash, who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987, believes the timing of the tournament will discourage the top players from signing up.

"The concept is a great idea, but it's after the US Open and the Davis Cup [semi-finals] - it's stuck in the middle of a tournament," he said.

"With the Davis Cup struggling in some places in the world, I'm not sure we need another tournament to squeeze in."

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Awesome Djokovic Ends Federer Dream

Novak Djokovic produced an awe-inspiring display to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The 45th meeting between two of the sport's greatest champions was another classic encounter and Djokovic produced one of his finest ever performances in a 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 win in Melbourne.

Both men shared 22 wins apiece ahead of this latest showdown, but Djokovic seemed a class above his long-term rival while storming into a two-set lead in just 54 minutes.

Federer's decision to attack the net stemmed the Serb's onslaught in the third and he hauled back a set as a partisan crowd roared him on at a flood-lit Rod Laver Arena.

But the defending champion was not denied for long and broke again in the fourth set rivened by tension before serving out the match to love in two hours and 19 minutes to secure a place in his fifth successive Grand Slam final.

The world No 1 will now bid to join Australian legend Roy Emerson with a sixth title at Melbourne Park.

He will meet the winner of second seed Andy Murray and 13th seed Milos Raonic who play in the second semi-final on Friday. 

"I played unbelievable first two sets, but that's what's necessary against Roger," said the 10-time Grand Slam champion.

"He's been playing at a very high level and I knew he was going to try to play aggressive, mix up the pace and come to the net.

"I came out with the right intensity and executed everything perfectly. But it was a battle in the end."

Djokovic had given his rivals hope after two lacklustre displays against Gilles Simon and Kei Nishikori but the top seed was back to his very best here and will now be strong favourite to clinch his 11th major crown.

For Federer, his wait for an 18th continues and despite playing brilliantly against the rest of the field, it may never end while he keeps running into Djokovic, who has now won their last four Grand Slam meetings.

Sunday will be Djokovic's 19th major final overall and moves him into equal-third place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in major finals, which is headed by Federer.

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Williams Unstoppable for Radwanska

Serena Williams underlined the difference in class and power between her and the rest of the women’s field with a 6-0, 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to reach her seventh Australian Open final.

Every time the American has made the final at Melbourne Park she has gone on to win the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

Victory in Saturday’s final against the seventh seed Angelique Kerber would give her a 22nd grand slam title, moving her to a tie with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era.

Williams romped through the first set in just 20 minutes before Radwanska showed some fight in the second but she was unable to stop the momentum of the American, who clinched her place in the final in 64 minutes.

“I’m really excited to be in another final. It blows my mind right now,” Williams said in a courtside interview. “I just feel like I’m being the best I can and I can’t believe I’m in another final.

“She started really well in the second set and making some great shots and hitting it deep and I just thought that I had to be aggressive.”

Williams began in ominous fashion breaking the Pole’s serve in the first game with Radwanska’s lack of power highlighted by the blistering nature of the American’s returns.

Radwanska’s fastest serve in the first game reached just 140 kph. Williams was returning the ball at over 130.

The fourth seed appeared resigned to defeat in the first set by the fourth game. She barely got a backhand return to a Williams serve then stood, with slumping shoulders, and watched as the 34-year-old put the overhead smash away.

Williams cleaned up the first set in just 20 minutes before Radwanska elicited the largest cheer of the match at that time when she held serve in the first game of the second set, avoiding an embarrassing potential double bagel 6-0, 6-0 score.

The crowd on Rod Laver Arena, which had its roof closed due to heavy rain in Melbourne, however managed to almost open it in the sixth game with a decibel-rising roar of support for Radwanska when she broke Williams to level it at 3-3.

Williams, however, broke again in the ninth game and then served out with three aces to seal a match in which she belted 42 winners to Radwanska’s four.

Radwanska, who had been bidding to reach her second grand slam final after Wimbledon in 2012, also heavily lost her only other semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park when she was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Dominika Cibulkova in 2014.

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Hewitt Waves Emotional Gidday

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Two-time grand slam champion Lleyton Hewitt waved an emotional goodbye to tennis after the Australian lost the final singles match of his career to Spain’s David Ferrer.

Hewitt typically fought to the very end in front of a packed crowd in Rod Laver Arena but he was unable to beat the classy Ferrer, who won 6-2 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round.

The 34-year-old had made clear his intention to retire at the end of this year’s tournament, his 20th Australian Open, and bring an end to an iconic career that has included winning the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002.

In an interview on court after his defeat, Hewitt told his home fans it had been the perfect way to go out.

“It’s a weird emotion, I don’t think it’ll fully settle in until a couple of days time,” Hewitt said.

“It was obviously in the back of my mind coming into every match this week but I’ve had a fantastic last month playing in what feels like every major city in this great country.

“I feel honoured to have the support and love from this crowd, it means so much to me.

“I’ve had such great success on this court and I feel fortunate to finish here.”

Hewitt remains the youngest ever world number one, after he reached the top of the rankings aged 15, and he spent 80 weeks of his career in the coveted peak spot.

Winning 30 singles titles in total, Hewitt narrowly missed out on clinching the Australian Open title in 2005 when he was beaten by Marat Safin in the final.

Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios all paid tribute to Hewitt in a video shown inside the stadium after the match.

Hewitt said: “Playing for Australia has always been my biggest honour. Getting the number 89 gold jacket off John Newcombe and Tony Roche when they picked me to play Davis Cup was one of the great days of my life.”

He added: “It’s something I can always be proud of — my whole career I’ve given 100 per cent.

“I love coming out here and competing, it’s never hard coming out and playing in front of such great spectators.

“I love Rod Laver Arena it’s like a second home for me and I’m just so fortunate to have this opportunity 20 years in a row.”

Hewitt’s fighting spirit often boiled over in his career and it did against Ferrer too when the Australian took exception to a linesman handing him a foot-fault.

At the change of ends Hewitt told umpire Pascal Maria: “You’re a fr****** idiot. That’s why everyone in the locker room thinks you’re so full of yourself.”

The pair shook hands, however, at the end of the match and Ferrer now goes through to meet American 31st seed Steve Johnson in the next round.

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Nadal Knocked Out in Melbourne

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Rafael Nadal bowed out in the Australian Open first round as fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco came from behind to win 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Nadal led by two sets to one and then 2-0 in the decider in Rod Laver Arena but Verdasco came roaring back, unleashing an incredible 90 winners on the way to a superb victory.

The world number 45 will now face Israel’s Dudi Sela in round two, while Nadal exits a third consecutive grand slam in the first week.

“I played unbelievable in the fifth set from after the break he made against me,” Verdasco said.

“I just started hitting winners — I don’t know how. I was closing my eyes and everything was coming in.”

Australian Nadal Nadal overcame Verdasco in a momentous five-setter in the Australian Open semi-finals six years ago, but few expected a similar battle with Verdasco now 32 and with his best days behind him.

Nadal, though, is not the powerhouse presence he once was, having crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon last year and US Open third round.

There had been signs of a revival in recent weeks but the 14-time major champion was simply unable to cope with Verdasco’s superior baseline hitting, which yielded 90 winners, 41 of them forehands, to Nadal’s 37.

A double fault at 6-6 in the first-set tie-break was enough to give Verdasco an early lead, but Nadal looked to have ridden the storm when he clinched the next two sets - the first following a thrilling rally, which ended with Nadal roaring and pumping his fists.

However, Verdasco refused to lie down, cranking up the power on his forehand and nicking the fourth set to force a decider.

Again Nadal edged ahead with an early break in the fifth, but it was Verdasco who strung together six games in a row, including two breaks of serve, to seal victory in four hours and 41 minutes.

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