Australian Open 2016: Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to win title

Angelique Kerber stunned Serena Williams in a 6-4 3-6 6-4 thriller to open her grand slam account and deprive the American of a historic 22nd title at a major that would have tied Steffi Graf for the Open Era lead.

Just how rare is it for Williams to lose a grand slam final?

She had won her last eight and was 21-4 overall.

And after Kerber upset Williams in Cincinnati in 2012, the world No. 1 reeled off four consecutive victories against the German without conceding a set.

The result followed Williams' defeat to Roberta Vinci in New York in September, one of the biggest upsets of all time in tennis, and one can't help but ponder if nerves -- or the weight of expectation -- are now getting to the 34-year-old in the most pivotal matches.

"Every time I walk into this room, everyone expects me to win every single match," she told reporters in the main interview room. "As much as I would like to be a robot, I'm not. I try to.

"I do the best I can."

Her comment resembled Roger Federer's "I've created a monster" line after the Swiss suffered a rare, in those days, loss in the Australian Open semifinals in 2008 to Novak Djokovic. That "monster" was the pressure of having to keep on winning in the wake of repeatedly crushing his rivals.

Maybe it was simply meant to be for the left-handed Kerber, who became the first German to win a grand slam since her idol Graf in 1999. The seventh seed saved a match point in the first round against Misaki Doi.

"My phone is exploding right now," said Kerber, who will rise to second in the rankings.

Kerber sunk to her knees when Williams erred on a forehand volley long on match point and soon was in tears to end an evening that was marked by the latter's plethora of unforced errors in the first set but turned into an absorbing two-hour affair.