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		</div><p>Serena Williams has secured an Open-era record 23rd grand slam title by beating her older sister Venus to become Australian Open champion.</p>
<p>After a nervous start, Serena proved unstoppable again on Rod Laver Arena as the American won 6-4 6-4 to claim her seventh Melbourne crown.</p>
<p>Venus arrived on the crest of a wave, having reached her first major final since 2009, but in truth she was second-best throughout and an upset never looked likely.</p>
<p>Victory means Serena finally pulls clear of Steffi Graf&#8217;s 22 major triumphs and now stands just one short of Margaret Court&#8217;s all-time best of 24.</p>
<p>As well as pocketing the champion&#8217;s cheque of AUS$3,700,000 (€2.6m), she will also reclaim the number one ranking, moving above Germany&#8217;s Angelique Kerber when the list refreshes on Monday.<br />
Before the match started, no one could decide just who they wanted to win out of the two much-loved sisters.</p>
<p>Venus got off to a strong start, whereas Serena seemed a little nervous.<br />
<a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_0438.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_0438.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="729" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-105171" /></a></p>
<p>Serena now stands just one Gland Slam short of Margaret Court’s all-time best of 24.<br />
That celebration though…</p>
<p>No one could handle the emotional rollercoaster that the match proved to be as the two siblings battled it out on the court.</p>
<p>Literally, look at the passion…</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_0439.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_0439.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="431" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-105172" /></a></p>
<p>At 35, Serena also becomes the oldest female grand slam champion in the Open era, extending the record she set by winning Wimbledon, aged 34, last year.</p>
<p>When victory was confirmed after a brisk 82 minutes, the game&#8217;s most successful siblings met for a warm embrace at the net.</p>
<p>This was Serena&#8217;s 17th victory in 28 matches against Venus, 19 years after they first met professionally at this tournament in the second round.</p>
<p>&#8216;You mean the world to me&#8217;</p>
<p>&#8220;I would like to congratulate Venus,&#8221; Serena said on court, with the trophy in her arms. She&#8217;s an amazing person. There&#8217;s no way I&#8217;d be at 23 without her, no way I&#8217;d be at one without her. She&#8217;s my inspiration, the only reason I stand here today, the only reason the Williams sisters exist.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thank you for inspiring me to be the best player I can be. Every time you won this week, I thought &#8216;I&#8217;ve got to win too&#8217;. She&#8217;s made an amazing comeback. I don&#8217;t like the word comeback because she&#8217;s never left.&#8221;</p>
<p>Moments before, Venus had said: &#8220;Serena Williams, that&#8217;s my little sister, guys. Congratulations on number 23, I&#8217;ve been right there with you, some of them I lost against you. Your win has always been my win, I think you know that.</p>
<p>&#8220;All the times I couldn&#8217;t be there or wouldn&#8217;t be there, you were there. I&#8217;m enormously proud of you, you mean the world to me.&#8221;</p>
<p>These contests have always been more respectful than raucous and it was the same again as Serena quickly apologised to her sister when an early throw-up went awry.</p>
<p>Best behaviour momentarily went out the window when the younger sibling lost balance and instantly cracked her frame in frustration. Umpire Alison Hughes called out a warning for racket abuse.</p>
<p>A rare blistering exchange caused one spectator to howl mid-rally, as if on a roller-coaster, but there were more downs than ups, as three Serena double faults helped Venus move ahead 3-2.</p>
<p>Suddenly, however, the favourite was jolted into life as a driving backhand winner gave her the break for 5-3, before serving out the set with an ace.</p>
<p>Serena had never lost a major final after winning the first set and she went for the kill in the third game, opening up 0-40 and three break points.</p>
<p>Venus dug deep to hold with a booming forehand but every exchange felt like a struggle and it seemed inevitable Serena would capitalise.</p>
<p>The moment came at 3-3 when Venus saved two break points but finally succumbed to a third, Serena&#8217;s stinging forehand proving too strong as her opponent responded wide.</p>
<p>Just as in the first set, Venus held to make her sister serve out and there was a sniff of a comeback when she led 15-30.</p>
<p>Two forehands into the net, however, conceded championship point and when a last Venus backhand dropped wide, her younger sibling fell on her back in celebration.</p>
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