Coming into the US Open, she was everyone's tip for the title and after her ruthless display early on she seemed to be cruising toward achieving her objective. Since her stunning first round loss at the French there was not an inch that Serena did wrong. She won Wimbledon and quickly after that the Olympic gold medal, signalling her return to top form.
After a pretty successful North American swing with a title defence in Stanford and a semifinal appearance in Cincinnati, Serena was bursting with confidence coming into her home Slam. She stormed through the opening rounds, defeating compatriot Coco Vandeweghe and Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, before gaining revenge over Ekaterina Makarova, the Russian who shocked her in the last 16 of the Australian Open in January. As times passes in a Slam and the competition gets fiercer, Williams only gets better. Shaking off any signs of rust, the American blew Czech Andrea Hlavackova off the court with a merciless double bagel. She followed that up with a powerhouse performance to destroy Ana Ivanovic in the quarters and Sara Errani in the semis to book her place in the grand finale against world number 1, Victoria Azarenka.
Serena holds the upper hand in her disputes with the Belorussian, winning all their recent fights easily. Consequently, many were expecting a relaxed day at the office for the American superstar. Victoria is not one to be denied easily though and although she lost the first set, she came back swinging serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider.
Pulling off the kind of magic that got her out of troubles so many times before, Serena managed to reel off four consecutive games to seal a huge victory, collecting thus her 15th Grand Slam crown. "I honestly can't believe I won. I really was preparing my runner-up speech, because I thought, 'Man, she's playing so great,' " said an ecstatic Williams during the trophy presentation, "I'm really shocked."
Although she lost, Victoria is showing signs of just why she deserves the number 1 ranking. Serena might have the edge at the moment, but Azarenka is more consistency and, relying on an extensive schedule, she can surely challenge the American powerhouse in her quest of regaining the top spot.
   |
| Pulling off the trademark Serena comeback, the American outlasted a brave Victoria Azarenka to claim her 15th Grand Slam title after a fierce 6-2,2-6,7-5 battle. |
No comments:
Post a Comment