Serena Williams won her 5^th Sony Ericsson Open equalling the record of Steffi Graf by beating a stubborn Jelena Jankovic who made the defending champion sweat for her title and the $590,000 winners purse.

 

The first half an hour or so gave no clue as to the drama that would develop in the later stages as Serena dominated after breaking for 3-1 and racing through the next six games with no reply to lead 6-1 3-0.

 

It was at this point that the momentum of the match changed subtly as the third ranked Serb broke the Williams serve to love and held for 2-3.

 

Games went with serve to leave Serena serving for the title at 5-4, and it was at this moment that she tightened up, failing to get her first serve into play consistently and Jankovic made her work hard from the back of the court. To the delight of the crowd who were desperate to see more tennis, the Serb broke for 5-5 and then broke again to take the set as Williams catastrophically served a double fault at set point down.

 

Serena broke at the start of the final set, and then Jankovic feeling weak and queasy, called for the trainer. The Serb's game became erratic again and the composed American took the next four games as her timing off the ground improved to a very high level as she willed herself to within a game of the title at 5-0.

 

Then with Serena serving for the title at 5-0, Jelena buoyed by the support of sections of the crowd, hung tough. After saving a match point with a cool backhand return winner down the line off a second serve, she broke on her second break point opportunity as Serena's forehand found the net.

 

The atmosphere reached fever pitch as ‘Houdini' Jankovic held after saving a second match point to force Serena to serve for it again.

 

The champion, looking calm and collected reached triple match point as she pummelled a smash away with a shriek and a fist pump as the packed stadium erupted.

 

But again she was denied as match points 3,4, and 5 evaporated before her disbelieving eyes as the determined Jankovic refused to surrender. When Serena lost her serve again with a backhand volley error, her frustration boiled over and her racquet was history.

 

With a fresh weapon in her hands, Serena went after Jankovic in a desperate attempt to avoid having to serve for it again.

 

A backhand winner down the line followed by another brought up 0-30 as the crowd hollered for their heroine to close it out. Match point no.5 courtesy of an exuberant smash and a roar came and went as Serena again made an error on her forehand. Match point no.6 vanished with a mishit forehand return which found the sidelines.

Finally, Serena's lucky no.7 proved to be the one she was waiting for as Jankovic put up a short lob under pressure which Williams was able to emphatically put away with the loudest shriek of the day to pocket a record equalling 5^th title.

 

Williams converted 8 out of 22 break point chances compared to 5/10 for Jankovic; hit 51 winners and 52 unforced errors against 16/43 for the Serb.

 

Serena won only 40% of points off her second serve which all too often she had to rely on when trying to close out the match.

 

"I thought I had like 15 match points, I'm glad to know it wasn't", Serena said with regard to the six match points that came and went. "A couple of shots she hit really well, and then a couple of times I made mistakes. It was weird.

 

"I was definately up and on my way to glory within an hour. I started to make a lot of mistakes, then Jelena obviously started playing well - she had nothing to lose. She started making some great shots and putting a few more balls into play, and I started missing some important shots."

 

After smashing her racquet at 5-3 up in the final set, Serena was able relax and re-focus her efforts on winning.

 

"When that happened I was able to relax and I knew I was going to win it at that point. I just wanted to break her there. The racquet was getting on my nerves; it just had to go."

 

When asked if the tournament should be re-named the Serena Ericsson Open, the champion thought it only fair that her name should be joined to the other illustrious record holder. "No. It should be called the Serena-Steffi Ericsson Open", she laughed. "Steffi Graf was such a great champion and to be compared to her is such an honour."

 

Jelena, looking relaxed and in good spirits concluded that the first few games of the final set were pivotal.

 

"The first couple of games in the third set were the crucial games and I let them go", Jankovic said. "I had easy balls to go up 15-40, and I missed that shot. There was a lady who was a little bit screaming during the point, and I somehow lost my focus on that shot. I made that mistake and I lost those games, and then I tried to come back. I tried to fight."

 

Jankovic said she was surprised that a champion of Serena's experience and calibre would have so much trouble with her nerves at the critical moments.

 

"I thought that Serena really had trouble closing out the match. She looked so nervous out there. I could never believe that a girl who has won so many Grand Slams, so many tournaments, could be that nervous closing out a match. It felt like it was her first time to win a tournament. She has won it so many times. But she was very strong especially in the first set; when she's playing her best tennis, when she's serving well, it's just tough to match up against her."

 

Jankovic said defaulting was never an option after taking a medical time-out when feeling sick.

 

"I was sick and it was so annoying for me to be sick and playing a final. I felt a bit weak today. I felt I couldn't breathe. I tried not to think about this, and just tried to play the game, enjoy it and have fun. Even though I cannot compete at my best, I would not default. That would be really bad for the fans. I could never do that."

 

Serena having defended her points from last year remains in the top 10 at no.9.

 

Andre Jones

Crandon Park

Key Biscayne

Miami

 

 

 

 

Post this story to:   del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   Newsvine  |   NowPublic  |   Reddit

No comments yet.

See whole thread » Submit reply