World No.1 Serena Williams claimed the biggest title that had eluded her, with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Impressively, of 79 finals she played in her career, Williams has won 62. Moreover, Williams is now 5-0 in title matches this year, having previously won Brisbane, Miami, Rome and Stanford.
The first player to take the lead was actually Ivanovic, who broke Williams’ serve in the opening game and even had three break points in the fifth game to extend the lead to 4-1. But that was not to happen and Williams leveled to 3-3, four games later the set was hers and in the set that followed she lost just one game to triumph in Cincinnati for the first time.
Despite the loss, Ivanovic stayed in good spirits, praised the awesome week behind her and thanked Williams for the serving lesson she got in this one-hour-and-two-minute match.
Serena’s winning clothing combo: purple Nike Fall Graphic Burnout Tank and a classic black skort. (photo: Omar Boraby)
A great week for Serena and she definitely played her best tennis in the second set of the final although Ivanovic was flagging. I’m still not entirely convinced by her though for the US Open. It’s going to be another fascinating women’s Grand Slam.