Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic Win 2015 Australian Open Singles Titles

world #1 serena williams of the u.s. on saturday defeated world #2 maria sharapova of russia 6-3, 7-6 to capture the 2015 australian open women's singles championsip. williams now has 19 major singles titles, one more than hall-of-fame legends chris evert and martina navtrailova. steffi graf of germany holds the record in the open era with 22 major wins.

williams' record in grand slam majors is 19-4, the best in the open era. this was her sixth title down under - another record. she won her first major as a teenager in 1999 at the u.s. open. today, at age 33, she became the oldest woman to win a major championship. furthermore, williams beat sharapova for the 16th consecutive time: modern tennis' most one-sided rivalry.

"i never thought that i would be sitting and having this discussion," williams told a small group of reporters after the match. "before i just had a dream and a racket and two wonderful parents who supported me. a part of me thinks, wow, i really have a chance to create history, and a part of me thinks, wow, i've done so much, this is amazing. i just try to look at both sides of it," she said.

williams struggled in her early matches, twice coming back from a set down. a recurring cough lingered in her chest for much of the fortnight. in fact, she vomited off court during a rain delay in the second set. sharapova elevated her game and forced a dramatic tiebreaker - saving two match points with powerful forehand winners. but williams, undaunted, intensely smacked an ace - her 18th of the match - to emerge victorious.

world #1 novak djokovic of serbia defeated world #6 andy murray of great britain 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0 to become the 2015 australian open men's singles champion. djokovic now joins andre agassi, jimmy connors and ivan lendl with eight major titles apiece. he won his fifth trophy down under and improved his career record at melbourne park to 5-0.

"there were a lot of turning points in the match. regardless of the record i have here, we both knew we had equal chances to win. it was a cat-and-mouse fight, it always is with us," djokovic said. at the end of the match, he threw his racket into the crowd at rod laver arena. several aussies - former champions - were present, including rod laver, roy emerson, ken rosewall and margaret court.

djokovic won the grueling first set tiebreaker. the second set was delayed for about five minutes after the seventh game when a court invader protesting australia's refugee policies was removed by security after jumping out of the stands and onto the court. other spectators in the stadium unfurled a political banner. organizers said two people were arrested, and the matter was dealt with swiftly.

after two and a half hours of physically demanding tennis, the match was tied at one set apiece. it appeared murray had the momentum, but when djokovic broke his serve in the third set, he never looked back, despite enduring a bruised hand and leg ailments. a new husband and father, djokovic is adored internationally. some serbian fans yelled, "adje nole," which is serbian for "come on nole," his increasingly popular nickname.