Serena Williams (photo ©Emmett Anderson) reached the final by defeating Taylor Townsend, Vania King, Varvara Lepchenko, Kaia Kanepi, Flavia Pennetta and Ekaterina Makarova. So far she lost not even a set. She’s the defending champion.
Caroline Wozniacki reached the final by defeating Magdalena Rybarikova, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Andrea Petkovic, Maria Sharapova, Peng Shuai and Sara Errani. So far she has lost two sets: one to Rybarikova and one to Sharapova. This is her second final at the U.S. Open after that of 2009.
At the beginning of the match there’s tension for both players, who are struggling to serve at their best. Caroline Wozniacki has a break point in the first game but Serena Williams saves it with an ace and wins her service game. In the second game the American breaks the Danish: it’s the first of five consecutive breaks that bring the score to 4-2 for the defending champion. In the eighth game Wozniacki offers a break point which is also a set point but saves it. Williams must wait just a game because in the next one closes the first set 6-3.
In the second set Caroline Wozniacki still has service problems and Serena Williams breaks her in the first game. Both players have started to serve better but the American has taken the lead. The Danish tries in every way to react, saves a break point in the third game and tries to play better to force her opponent to long rallies. Williams, however, always plays at a level higher than Wozniacki’s and in the ninth game she breaks her again to win the second set 6-3 and conquer the match and her third consecutive U.S. Open title, her sixth in total.
Caroline Wozniacki seemed at one point lost for top level tennis after she got out of the top 10 of the WTA rankings. I don’t like to talk about players’ private life but it’s a fact that after the breaking of her engagement with golfer Rory McIlroy in May 2014 her performances improved significantly. In the final she played bad the first set, she got better in the second set but it wasn’t enough. This result brings her back into the top 10 and for her that must be a new starting point.
For Serena Williams 2014 has been a disappointing year. It seems absurd to say that about a player who after all has won 5 tournaments but for her Grand Slam titles are that ones that matter. With this victory she reached Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slam titles. New records depend on her health and how much she’s still willing to work hard.
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