Australian Open 2015: Twitter Reacts to Williams vs. Sharapova Women's Final

Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets on Saturday to win the 2015 Australian Open and claim her 19th career Grand Slam singles title.

Although Sharapova put up a fight, especially in the second set, Williams' power was simply too much. She connected on 18 aces and cracked 38 winners, outhitting one of the few players on the WTA Tour capable of matching her pace.

The American has now won 16 consecutive matches over her talented Russian counterpart. An amazing streak considering their standing atop the women's game for so many years. Let's check out some of the social-media reaction from her latest triumph.

A post from the WTA Tour set the stage for the match by showing how evenly matched the players were coming into the final:

The first turning point came courtesy of the weather. There was a brief delay as they shut the roof as rain fell and Brad Gilbert of ESPN pointed out the complexion of the first set changed after that:

Sure enough, despite dealing with an illness Williams was about to close out the opening set and gain control of the match, per Unibet:

As the players battled deep into the second set, something interesting happened. Williams was docked a point for hindrance after shouting too soon on a winner. As Mike Dickson of the Daily Mail highlights, seeing Sharapova gifted a point under that rule given her grunting is quite humorous:

Longtime tennis star Pat Cash also found it a bit odd:

It mattered not. Williams won the game anyway and proceeded to win the second set in a tiebreak to close out the match. Sharapova didn't play poorly, as was often the case in previous meetings. But when the American is in top form, there's nobody in the women's game that can beat her.

SportsCenter spotlighted the celebration:

Howard Bryant of ESPN noted while the match may have appeared close, Williams was for the most part in command throughout:

The Australian Open passed along comments from the champion:

ESPN Tennis added remarks from the runner-up:

"

“I’ve had some of best memories of my career on this court & also some of my toughest losses.” Congrats Maria on another incredible #AusOpen

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 31, 2015"

Caroline Wozniacki, who's become close friends with Williams during their time on tour, passed along her congratulations:

Tennis legend Billie Jean King did the same:

Williams was sick, facing the No. 2 player in the world and had a key call go against her during an important stretch of the second set. She won anyway. In straight sets no less. That's what they call the heart of a champion.

She entered last year's US Open with some questions after failing to advance beyond the fourth round in the season's first three majors. Now she's won the last two Grand Slam events and firmly established herself as the best player in the world once again.

Perhaps the greatest player of all time, too.