Serena retakes No. 1 from Kerber with Aussie Open title

Angelique Kerber's brief reign at No. 1 in the world will come to an end when the new rankings are unveiled on Monday, as she's been unseated by the very woman whose crown she stole back in September.

With her record-breaking victory in Melbourne on Saturday, Serena Williams not only set new Open-era benchmarks with her seventh Aussie Open title and 23rd major overall, she also overtook Kerber, who beat her in the Australian Open final last year.

Kerber's victory kicked off an incredible season that saw her make three Grand Slam finals - winning two of them, along with an Olympic silver medal. She took No. 1 during her trip to the US Open title, ending Serena's run of 186 straight weeks that had equaled the record set by Kerber's countrywoman, Steffi Graf.

"It didn't piss me off," Serena said after her victory Saturday, when asked whether it upset her to be No. 2. "I didn't deserve to be No. 1. I think Kerber played unbelievable. She was the most consistent. She definitely deserved to have that position. That's one thing about me, I feel like when credit's due you have to give that person credit, and she absolutely deserved it. It didn't hurt me.

"It looked weird. I never felt like No. 2. But I think she deserved to be No. 1. She played well."

Kerber found out quickly, though, that staying on top can be just as difficult as getting there in the first place, and she failed to defend her championship points in Australia when she fell in the fourth round to CoCo Vandeweghe.

She'll have a chance to take it back, as Serena has more points to defend in the spring and won't play as many tournaments, but for now Kerber's run is done after 20 weeks, and Serena is back at the top of mountain.