Serena Williams snapped out of her early doldrums to roar to a record seventh Miami WTA title on Saturday with a 7-5, 6-1 win over China’s Li Na.
In a battle of the sport’s top two players, the US world No. 1 took her tally of WTA titles to 59, including 17 Grand Slam triumphs.
The win took Williams’ trophy haul to two so far this year — she took the Brisbane title in January — and elevated her to the ranks of Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Chris Evert as one of the only women in the Open era to win the same title seven or more times.
Photo: Geoff Burke / USA TODAY
“I was actually super-excited at the end,” said Williams, who already owned the most WTA titles in the combined men’s and women’s event, but had shared the overall record of six trophies with Andre Agassi.
“Obviously, I wanted to have the most titles here,” added the American, who lives in Miami and first played the tournament as a 16-year-old. “I guess that I’ve grown up coming to this tournament as a kid, watching so many players, and to be one of those players now is really, really awesome for me.”
Williams’ ebullient celebration was a sharp contrast to her somnambulant start, during which Australian Open champion Li powered to a 5-2 lead, with Williams surrendering a second service break with a double-fault in the seventh game.
The seriousness of her situation seemed to wake Williams up and she won the next five games to take the set, saving a set point in the 10th and hanging on to break Li in a 12th game that went to deuce six times.
“I really thought I could do better,” Williams said of her thoughts at falling 5-2 down. “My serve percentage was super, super lowand I thought: ‘OK, I can serve a little better and I know I can return better. I’m practicing all these years and I have a good return. I need to start doing it.’”
Although she delivered only three aces in a match that lasted just less than two hours, Williams’ serve did steadily improve as the match wore on, as did the power and precision of her returns.
She seized a 5-1 lead in the second set with a fierce backhand winner on her fifth break point of the game and wrapped up the contest on her first match point.
Although the match turned so dramatically, with the American winning 11 of the last 12 games, her Chinese opponent had little to reproach herself for as she continued to battle even as Williams inexorably pulled away.
“I don’t think I was playing bad,” Li said. “Maybe she just started playing a little bit better after 5-2 down. I think it was a pretty good match.”
Li, who won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, has now lost 10 straight matches against the world’s top ranked player.
Li’s only victory in their 12 meetings was in 2008, but Williams said she always feels challenged by the world No. 2.
“We just have this never-give-up fight,” Williams said, adding that she also feels a special connection with Li because they are both still battling on the WTA Tour at 32 years old. “It just goes to show that you can still shine at any age.”
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Sean Dyche on Thursday achieved in his first game with Nottingham Forest what predecessor Ange Postecoglou could not in eight matches in charge: Win. Under its new coach, Nottingham Forest presented a concentrated display resulting in a 2-0 victory over Porto in the UEFA Europa League. It was the first victory for Nottingham in the competition and only the second overall this season, while Porto were defeated for the first time this season. Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the penalty spot in the 19th minute at the City Ground in West Bridgford, England. Igor Jesus doubled the advantage from another penalty in the 77th
RSS