Australian Open win 'was all heart', says Serena Williams

Serena Williams, who defeated Venus Williams to clinch a record-setting 23rd Grand Slam women's singles, has insisted that she had to dig in deep to fend off her sister in the summit clash of the Australian Open on Saturday.

Serena defeated Venus 6-4, 6-4 victory in what could rather be said as a one-sided contest, which lasted for one hour and 22 minutes at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

With the win, Serena has surpassed Steffi Graf's tally of 22, thus becoming the most successful women's player in the Open era; only Margaret Court, with 24 titles across the amateur and Open eras, has more.

"Today was all heart out there, I was just fighting. The fact that she is so good made it that much harder," Serena was quoted as saying by Sport24.

"I swear I didn't hit the racquet that hard - how did it crack that much?" said the 35-year-old American.

Serena, who would now move to the numero one spot, deposing Angelique Kerber, who defeated her in last year's Melbourne Park decider, said she deliberately avoided any talk of Graf's record during the tournament which eventually helped her to relax.

"It is crazy. I knew I had a chance (of breaking the record). But I didn't like to talk about records anymore. That helped me relax," she said.

"I came into this tournament really thinking that I didn't have anything to lose and nothing to prove. I just told myself to have fun and it worked for me. I was relaxed this time," she added.