Serena Williams (photo ©Emmett Anderson) reached the final going through the round robin stage defeating Ana Ivanovic and Eugenie Bouchard and losing to Simona Halep then defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. This is her seventh WTA Championship finals and won four of the six ones she played.
Simona Halep reached the final going through the round robin stage defeating Eugenie Bouchard and Serena Williams and losing to Ana Ivanovic then defeating Agnieszka Radwanska. This is her first WTA Championship final.
Simona Halep starts the match well and has two break points in the first game but Serena Williams wins her service game. The Romanian plays really well and in the third game breaks the American. Williams reacts, take advantage of some second serves by her opponent in the fourth game and breaks Halep at the third break point. The match becomes very intense but also nervous, with errors on both sides. The American tries to be more aggressive and in the sixth game breaks the Romanian: it’s the first of three consecutive breaks that brings the situation to 5-3. In the ninth game Williams serves for the first set and also thanks to her first two aces of the match she wins it 6-3.
Serena Williams begins the second set well breaking Simona Halep. The American now seems to have found her game again and the Romanian is no longer able to keep her pace. Williams dominates her opponent breaking her in the third and in the fifth game and then closes the second set 6-0 winning the match and her fifth WTA Championships title.
Simona Halep has made new steps forward this year and reached the WTA Championships final in her debut in this tournament. It’s a shame that in the second set she was overwhelmed by Serena Williams but she proved she’s really a great player so next year we can expect to see her at the highest level.
In a tournament full of surprises, including one of the worst defeats of her career to Simona Halep, in the end Serena Williams confirmed the title she won in the last years. She wasn’t as brilliant and dominant as on other occasions but she’s still the best.
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