Serena outplays Halep to land WTA Finals title
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 27, 2014
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Serena Williams holds the WTA Finals trophy after beating Simona Halep in Singapore yesterday. |
Serena Williams won her third-successive WTA Finals title and fifth overall by beating Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 yesterday, avenging an embarrassing group-stage loss to the Romanian player.
Halep easily beat Williams just four days earlier during the group stage of the tournament, but the American turned that around with an aggressive game plan.
Williams won 11 of the last 12 games in the match to join Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only players to have won five titles in the season-ending championships.
The 33-year-old pulled out of her previous two tournaments with illness and a knee injury, yet still claimed the US$2 million first prize, captured the Billie-Jean King Trophy and also had a breed of orchid named after her in recognition. "I just started training, because I had such a bad knee in Beijing I didn't know if I'd be able to play here, and now I have won the Billie-Jean King trophy — I am so excited," Williams said.
The match was the most one-sided championship match in the WTA Finals since Kim Clijsters beat Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-0 in 2003. Williams attacked Halep's second serve with fierce ground strokes, and regularly rushed to the net and prevent her opponent from playing her preferred style.
"I had to play more Serena-style tennis and just do what I do best," Williams said. "I was expecting a much better player than I was in the earlier round. Being ready for that really was able to help me out."
Halep's run in this tournament capped a remarkable rise, having gone from No. 64 in the rankings to No.4 in the course of 17 months, with a French Open final appearance along the way. However, her lack of experience of big occasions compared to the 18-time grand slam champion proved telling.
"I knew that she would be more motivated during this match because we played a few days ago and I won," Halep said.
Halep went into her final group-stage game knowing that if she lost in straight sets, Ana Ivanovic would go into the semifinals at Williams' expense. Instead, Halep lost in three and Williams made it in.
"I have no regrets because I did my job on court against Ivanovic," Halep said. "That was the chance but she deserves to win the title. She's much better."
Earlier, Cara Black and Sania Mirza cruised to the doubles title with an 6-1, 6-0 win over defending champions Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei. For Black, it was the third time she had won the doubles crown at the WTA Finals, while for Mirza it was her first victory at the season-ending championships.
It was a surprisingly one-sided final, given Peng and Hsieh entered the match with a 12-0 record in doubles finals, including this year's French Open and Wimbledon in 2013.
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