Serena Williams (photo ©Emmett Anderson) reached the final defeating Coco Vandeweghe, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Ekaterina Makarova, Andrea Hlavackova, Ana Ivanovic and Sara Errani. So far, she has not lost no sets.
Victoria Azarenka reached the final defeating Alexandra Panova, Kirsten Flipkens, Jie Zheng, Anna Tatishvili, Samantha Stosur and Maria Sharapova. So far, she has lost two sets: one to Stosur and one to Sharapova.
Serena Williams starts the match well and breaks Victoria Azarenka in the second game. The American is dominant, just like she’s been in recent months, with a great service and powerful strokes so it’s hard for her opponent to get into the match. Williams breaks Azarenka again in the eighth game to easily win the first set 6-2.
The second set has a different start, with Victoria Azarenka who for the first time breaks Serena Williams. The American seems to have lost the effectiveness in her shots, especially in her forehand, while her opponent gains confidence from the good start of the set and in the fifth set she breaks Williams again. Azarenka wins the second set 6-2 showing that now she’s confident that she can win the match.
In the third set, Serena Williams has two break points in the second game but Victoria Azarenka wins her service game and in the third game it’s her who breaks the American but is broken back in the fourth game. The set is balanced even though Williams seems more tired and in the seventh game Azarenka breaks her again, in the tenth game she serves for the title but is very tense, doesn’t play well and doesn’t win any more games. Serena Williams wins the set 7-5 to conquer the match and the U.S. Open title.
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Victoria Azarenka almost won the tournament but despite being much improved from the mental point of view eventually the tension probably cost the victory. However, she managed to fight until the end against Serena Williams and if she learns from this experience she’ll certainly have the chance to win more Grand Slam tournaments.
Serena Williams struggled against an extraordinary athlete but at clutch time she suddenly found her best shots. She ended an extraordinary summer in which she won Wimbledon, the Olympic tournament and the U.S. Open defeating in the finals the top three players in the WTA ranking. She’s still no. 4 in the WTA ranking because in the last year she played a limited number of tournaments and wasn’t always in shape but has once again shown that when she’s close to her best she’s still the best. She left her health problems behind and as long as she’s motivated she can still win Grand Slam tournaments.
