NEW YORK — Serena Williams ended a difficult-for-her Grand Slam season in the best way possible, winning her third consecutive U.S. Open title by beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.
Williams equaled Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 major singles titles, the fourth-most in history. Williams also matched Evert’s total of six championships at the U.S. Open and became the first woman to win three in a row since Evert’s four-title run from 1975-78.
It was a dominant performance to cap a dominant two weeks in Flushing Meadows. Not only did Williams, ranked and seeded No. 1, win all 14 sets she played in the tournament, she never even dropped more than three games in any of them.
Until the U.S. Open, though, Williams had not been at her best on her sport’s biggest stages in 2014. She lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, the second round at the French Open, and the third round at Wimbledon, where a disoriented Williams also struggled through an odd appearance in doubles that was attributed to a viral illness.
Back at the top of her game, Williams broke Wozniacki’s serve five times and compiled a hard-to-believe 29-4 edge in winners.
They’ve been good pals for years, and they hung out together in Miami — heading to the beach, watching an NBA playoff game — right after both lost early at the French Open in May. Wozniacki says Williams helped her get over the end of her engagement to golf star Rory McIlroy.
That friendship between Williams and Wozniacki did not matter one bit, of course, while they played Sunday with so much at stake as early evening shadows moved across the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
As Williams put it beforehand, referring to her older sister, “If I can play Venus, I can play anybody.”
Sure looked that way Sunday.
Photo via Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports Images
