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| SERENA WILLIAMS |
Serena won her 17th Grand Slam title Sunday and fifth U.S. Open title, equaling the Swiss Maestro on both counts.
And move over former president Bill Clinton, who ambled to the women’s locker room at the U.S. Open to give Serena a hug and hang out to commemorate the occasion.
Williams chased more tennis history Sunday even as the Flushing wind kept chasing away her chances of closing out the match.
But Serena finally did it emphatically in the third set to survive the comeback of gritty No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka, bashing a barrage of baseline missiles and nine aces to become the U.S. Open champion for the second straight year.
It became a tight, topsy-turvy three-setter, a 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1 victory over Azarenka in two hours, 45 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the 31-year-old Williams became the oldest woman to win the Open.
It was the longest women’s singles Open final since time started being recorded in 1980, and it ended on a backhand long by Azarenka after which Serena hopped up and down several times.
Then it was onto Clinton, whom she first met as a teenager.
“I have met him several times,’’ Serena said. “We kind of reminisced about when I was a teenager and how he first saw me then coming to the White House and several times at the U.S. Open. That’s kind of unique to have a history with a former president of the United States of America.’’
Williams’ latest title leaves her one away from matching Chris Evert’s and Martina Navratilova’s Grand Slam haul. Steffi Graf has 22 — the record for the Open era. Williams also tied Graf with five Open victories and is starting to make a case for having the best women’s resume of all-time because of her longevity as a champion.
“It’s an honor to be even with Roger,’’ Williams said of Federer. “He’s been such a great champion throughout the years.”
“I think it’s incredible what she’s achieving,’’ said Azarenka, who came back from 4-1 and two breaks down in the second set but ultimately blew it with seven double faults. “She’s playing definitely her best tennis right now. That’s just really exciting for me to be able to compete against that type of player who can be the greatest of all-time.’’
Asked if Williams has her eye on Graf’s 22, her mother, Oracene Price, said, “At this point of her career, yeah, she wants to make up for lost time.’’
All this after a blood clot in her calf traveled through both her lungs almost ended her tennis career and her life in March 2011.
“It really scared her,’’ Price said. “I tell them all the time — everybody has their day in the sun and you have to do the best you can while you’re there. You might not get a second chance. Things happen. She got the realization. Something did happen. She didn’t know if she’d play again or not."
What looked like a tidy straight-setter turned into a struggle. Serena was up two breaks in the second set to go up 4-1 before Azarenka’s wild comeback. CBS’ analyst Mary Carillo had gone to the court for the championship ceremony. Carillo ended up scooting back upstairs.
Serena served twice for the match. She lost both chances, including a double fault at 6-5, 30-40 to set up a tiebreaker. Serena said she got “uptight.’’
She got off to a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker and folded again. The wind was taking its toll on her mind and shots. After one backhand sailed long in the tiebreaker, she mouthed, “The wind.’’
The third set saw Williams return to form.
“She started playing and stopped complaining about the wind,’’ Price said. “The other girl was playing with the same conditions.’’
In the third set, Williams broke Azarenka at 2-1 as the Belarus product double-faulted on break point. Serena then held to go up 4-1 again, stringing together a backhand volley winner and two aces — one at 126 mph.
Serena won her first Open in 1999. No other player in tennis history has won a U.S. Open 14years after winning his or her first. Williams’ has been a better term than Clinton’s.
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