Tennis: Serena Williams celebrates ASB Classic win with post-ceremony cartwheel

Serena Williams cartwheeled across the court. Photo / Twitter

The crowds were gone, the stadium was silent and organisers were packing up.

This was the moment Serena Williams decided to truly celebrate her ASB Classic win ... in bizarre fashion.

The 23-times Grand Slam Champion claimed a 6-3 6-4 win over compatriot Jessica Pegula in the Women's Singles finals on Sunday in Auckland.

It was her first title since giving birth to daughter Olympia in September 2017.

After the ceremony, where she admitted she felt "super proud," Williams took back to the deserted court to do a celebratory cartwheel.

Nice way to celebrate your first trophy in a while.

Cartwheel from @serenawilliams on a deserted centre court, after everyone had gone home.@WTA @nzheraldsport @ASB_Classic pic.twitter.com/ZWh7xZGb5R

— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) January 12, 2020

Williams later posted a boomerang video of her cartwheel on Instagram with hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins in the foreground holding the trophy.

She captioned the post "Flipping to Melbourne. Thanks [Jenkins] #rockstarpartner," ahead of travelling across the ditch to compete in the Australian Open.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams)

Earlier in the week, Williams helped push proceeds from the tournament organisers for the Australian bushfire fund to close to $90,000.

Minutes after her first tournament victory in three years Williams announced she was donating her prize money, $NZ65,000, to the Australian bushfires relief.

A dress worn by Williams at the Auckland tournament has a leading bid of $4,010 on TradeMe with around $20,000 already raised from successful auctions created by the tournament organisers.

The TradeMe auction for the dress ends on Saturday.

The dress Serena has donated to raise money for the Australian bush fires.

The bespoke maroon Nike playing dress, signed by Williams, was worn by the tennis great during her battle with fellow American Christina McHale during last Thursday's match.

It comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Tournament Director Karl Budge.

Another auction for a Longines Saint-Imier Men's Watch sits at $3,000.

Proceeds direct from the Trade Me auctions for Best Seats in the House promotion, signed memorabilia and experiences total around $20,000 so far.

A one-hour training session with Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou sold for $1,551.

Bids for sideline seats will continue over the men's tournament this week.

"I've been playing in Australia for over 20 years and it's been really hard for me to watch all the news and everything that has been happening with all the fires," Williams said after her win in yesterday's final.

"Over a billion animals and people that have lost their homes. So much has happened, so I decided at the beginning of the tournament in every match I played I'd donate a dress and I'd also donate all my prizemoney for a great cause."

With Williams donating her prize money that took the donated total to $88,000.

More signed merchandise will be released on TradeMe from the likes of Genie Bouchard, and 2019 ASB Classic champion Julia Goerges.

ASB Classic are also donating $20 for every centre court ticket remaining sold to today's day session.