NEW YORK, (PNA/Xinhua) — World number one Serena Williams of the United States won her fifth U.S. Open title after beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 6-7 (8-6), 6-1 on Sunday.
The defending champion collected her second Grand Slam crown after winning the French Open earlier this year. It was the 17th overall Grand Slam title for the 31-year-old tennis legend.
Williams outperformed her seven-year-younger opponent in serving. She powered as many as nine aces throughout the match, and the highest serving speed stayed at 126 miles per hour, which was even faster than Rafael Nadal’s 123 in his semi-final meeting with Richard Gazquet.
Williams entered Sunday’s final without losing a single set. The seven-time U.S. Open finalist had won 24 consecutive games before losing one to fifth seed Li Na in the second set of semi-final, and dropped only sixteen games in six matches.
However, Azarenka proved she was Williams’ biggest challenge at the tournament.
The 24-year-old Belarusian broke Williams after losing her own in the first set, and tied with the world number one until 5-5. Azarenka didn’t hold serve in the eleventh game, seeing Williams serve out the first set 7-5.
The second set started with a 4-1 lead for Serena, but Azarenka decided to fight back. The Australian Open champion broke twice to level the score 5-5, and broke another game to force a tiebreak.
The world number two got two set points in hand when the tiebreak score came to 6-4. Williams save both to catch up until 6-6, only to see Azarenka win two consecutive points to end the tiebreak 8-6.
Both players seemed to be tired after the 1-hour-10-minute second set, and Williams turned out to be the more energetic one. The big server made another 4-1 lead in the final set, and she refused to let go any chance, winning the next two games to end the 2-hour-45-minute match 6-1.
Azarenka missed the chance to collect a second Grand Slam title after winning the Australian Open. It was her eighth meeting with Williams at Grand Slams, and she lost all of them.
“The game overall, there are things could have been better,” said Azarenka. “But you know, I gave my heart. I fought as hard as I could.”