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5-star Serena claims 17th slam in New York
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World No. 1 Serena Williams captured her fifth US Open title, and second in a row, by outlasting second-ranked Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-1 on Sunday to claim her 17th career grand slam crown.
The 31-year-old American became the oldest Open era women’s winner in US Open history, 293 days older than Margaret Court when she set the prior mark in 1973, and the third-oldest grand slam women’s champion of the Open era.
Williams won US$3.6 million, including a US$1 million bonus for her success in US Open tuneup events. She’s the first top-seeded champion since Justine Henin in 2007 and the first woman to defend the US Open crown since Kim Clijsters in 2010.
Williams won a rematch of last year’s final that gave her and Azarenka a combined total of six of the eight major titles from the past two years.
Williams improved to 13-3 in their rivalry but two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka had won two of the previous three, most recently in last month’s Cincinnati final.
“It was never over until match point,” said Williams, who was broken twice in the second set when serving for the match.
“Victoria is such a great competitor. She was really able to push me into a third set. I was really stern with myself. I knew that if I wanted to win, I had to play better.”
Azarenka admitted Williams was the superior performer in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium that baffled both players at times and sent Williams’ pink dress fluttering above her waist much of the match. “It’s a tough loss but being in the final against the best player, who deserves the win, it’s incredible,” Azarenka said. “I gave it everything I had. I fought hard.”
Williams matched Steffi Graf for second on the Open era list with five US Open trophies, one shy of Chris Evert’s record, and moved one adrift of Martina Navratilova and Evert for second on the Open era slam win list.
Graf has the Open era record of 22 while Australian Court owns the all-time mark of 24, although Williams has matched the men’s slam record title total of 17 won by Roger Federer.
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool,” Williams said.
The match lasted two hours and 45 minutes to become the longest US Open women’s final since timing began in 1980, five minutes longer than the old mark set in 1981 when Tracy Austin outlasted Navratilova 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1).
Williams became the first woman since Henin in 2007 to win the US and French Opens in the same year.
With the victory, Williams has won more than US$9 million in 2013, a one-year women’s record, and boosted her career winnings above US$50 million as well as capturing her ninth title of the year, a one-season personal best. She also has 55 career titles in total.
Williams, who lost only 16 games over her first six matches, battled windy conditions and a determined foe to add to the New York hardcourt trophy haul that included wins in 1999, 2002, 2008 and 2012. Williams said her slam triumphs mean more after suffering blood clots in her lungs in 2011 that jeopardized her life and left her at times “lying in bed and thinking I will never play again”.
Williams seized a 4-1 lead in the second set but Azarenka broke her twice as she served for the match and took her into a tie-breaker. After being twice denied on set points, Azarenka swatted a service winner to lead 7-6 and Williams sent a forehand long to put herself into a third set, which she won.
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