SERENA WILLIAMS WINS THE U.S. OPEN & THE BONUS MONEY & HER 18th SLAM ! ! ! SHE BEATS “BESTIE” CARO WOZNIACKI 3 & 3

Written by: Staff on 8th September 2014

Serena Williams of the US reacts with the championship trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to win the women's final match on the fourteenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

epa04390482 Serena Williams of the US reacts with the championship trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to win the women's final match on the fourteenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Singles – Final: (1) Serena Williams def. (10) Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-3

This was a case where you really didn’t have to see the match to imagine what happened. You *knew* Serena Williams would produce most of the power, and end most of the points one way or the other, and that Caroline Wozniacki would get lots and lots of balls back until Serena hit either a winner or an error. That raised a fair chance that most of Wozniacki’s games would come on breaks — and so it proved. In the first half dozen games, we had five breaks (three for Serena, two for Wozniacki) plus one Serena hold. After that, Wozniacki earned a few holds, but Serena remained in control. Wozniacki was credited with only *one* winner off the ground in the whole match!

That’s six U. S. Opens for Serena (including three in a row). And it’s eighteen total Slams, tying Serena with Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert for second place in the Open Era. It seems likely that she can reach sole #2 before she retires. Whether she can make it to #1 is left as an exercise for the reader.

It will tell you something about this event that Serena won it without facing a Top Ten opponent — Wozniacki, at #11, and #12 Flavia Pennetta were the only Top Fifteen players she faced. At the last Slam of 2014, only one top player really stood up. And it was Serena.

For Serena, this has no immediate rankings effect — after all, she was already #1! But her relatively slow spring and early summer meant that she came here a mere #3 in points this year. (And she had been far lower earlier in the year.) With this, she’s back on top. She hasn’t clinched the year-end #1. But she now has a substantial lead — and most of the players close behind her seem to prefer more traditional surfaces. Serena clearly has the inside track for the #1 ranking.

Caroline Wozniacki remains Slam-less. But at least she made it back to a final. And she made it back to the Top Ten; we show her at #9. If nothing else, she clearly is a factor again. It won’t make up for losing a Slam. But it’s quite an improvement over the last couple of years!

Serena Williams of the US (R) poses with the championship trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (L) to win the women’s final match on the fourteenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

Rankings

Estimated WTA Rankings As of September 7, 2014

Rank &

Prior

Rank Name Points

1 (1) SWILLIAMS 9430*

2 (2) HALEP 6160

3 (4) KVITOVA 5926

4 (6) SHARAPOVA 5575

5 (5) ARADWANSKA 5380

6 (3) Li 5270

7 (8) BOUCHARD 4545

8 (7) KERBER 4400

9 (11) WOZNIACKI 4305

10 (9) IVANOVIC 3855

11 (10) JANKOVIC 3655

12 (14) ERRANI 3215

13 (13) CIBULKOVA 3007

14 (15) SAFAROVA 2965

15 (18) MAKAROVA 2845

16 (12) PENNETTA 2651

17 (19) PETKOVIC 2525

18 (16) SUAREZ NAVARRO 2420

19 (20) VWILLIAMS 2370

20 (21) STOSUR 2110

21 (39) PENG 1905

22 (23) CORNET 1900

23 (22) KUZNETSOVA 1860

24 (17) AZARENKA 1813

25 (25) PAVLYUCHENKOVA 1775

26 (26) MUGURUZA 1743

27 (24) STEPHENS 1690

28 (27) KEYS 1670

29 (32) DELLACQUA 1621

30 (29) ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA 1601

Topics: 18th slam, Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Tennis, US Open

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10sBalls_com says:

September 8, 2014 at 8:50 am

@serenawilliams WINS THE @usopen & THE BONUS MONEY & HER 18th SLAM!!! SHE BEATS “BESTIE” @CaroWozniacki 3 & 3 http://t.co/sUZu0yEgCU #tennis