By HOWARD FENDRICH
NEW YORK - Finally tested, even trailing, at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams turned things around just in time.
Two points from defeat, Williams suddenly regained her composure and her strokes, coming back to win the last four games and beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 on Sunday night for her fourth championship at Flushing Meadows and 15th Grand Slam title overall.
"I honestly can't believe I won. I really was preparing my runner-up speech, because I thought, `Man, she's playing so great,"' Williams said during the trophy presentation after the 2-hour, 18-minute match, adding: "I'm really shocked."
Might be the only one.
After all, what really was stunning was that the top-ranked Azarenka made things as interesting as they were, given that she came into the day 1-9 against Williams.
Add in that Williams hadn't dropped a set in the tournament, losing only 19 games through six matches before Sunday. All part of a tremendous run she is putting together in reaction to her loss at the French Open in late May, the American's only first-round exit in 49 career major tournaments. Since then, she is 26-1, winning Wimbledon and the London Olympics.
There hadn't been a three-set women's final in New York since 1995, and Williams came through with a late charge to become the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since a decade ago, when - yes, that's right - she did it.
"She never gives up," said Azarenka, who managed only 13 winners, 31 fewer than Williams. "She's definitely the toughest player, mentally, there is and she's got the power."
While Azarenka, a 23-year-old from Belarus, doesn't have the name recognition or bona fides of Williams, she did win the Australian Open in January, and was 32-2 (a .941 winning percentage) on hard courts in 2012. She also hadn't dropped a three-setter all season until Sunday, going 12-0 in matches that went the distance, including victories over defending U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.
As Sunday's third set commenced, Williams' mother, Oracene Price, told her from the stands, "Settle down."
Didn't happen right away.
"Well, she's a human being, you know, who has two feet, two legs, two hands," Azarenka said. "It's understandable."
When Williams double-faulted, slapped a bad backhand into the net and pushed a forehand long, Azarenka broke at love for a 4-3 edge, then followed that up by holding for 5-3.
One game from the championship.
Azarenka was two points away at 30-all with the fourth-seeded Williams serving in the next game, but couldn't convert. And when Azarenka served for the victory at 5-4, she showed the jitters that probably are understandable given that this was only her second career Grand Slam final, 17 fewer than Williams.
Azarenka made three errors in that game, including a forehand into the net that let Williams break her to 5-all. Williams kept whatever excitement she might have felt contained, face straight as possible, while her older sister, seven-time major champion Venus, smiled and clapped in the stands.
That was during a key stretch in which Williams took 10 of 12 points to go ahead 6-5. She then broke again to win, dropping onto her back on the court when Azarenka sent a backhand long to end it.
"Feels like there is no room for a mistake," is the way Azarenka described trying to deal with Williams' game. "There is no room for a wrong decision."
Azarenka slumped in her changeover chair, a white towel covering her head, as Williams kept saying, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" while scurrying over to share the joy with her mother and big sister.
"Being so close, it hurts deeply," Azarenka said. "To know you don't have it. You're close; you didn't get it."
Williams, who turns 31 on Sept. 26, is the first 30-year-old woman to win the U.S. Open since Martina Navratilova in 1987.
Williams is dominating the game right now. And she's been dominant, off and on, for more than a decade.
She won her very first major championship at age 17 at the 1999 U.S. Open. Winning titles 13 years apart at the same Grand Slam tournament represents the longest span of success in the professional era, which began in 1968. Navratilova (Wimbledon, 1978 and 1990) and Chris Evert (French Open, 1974 and 1986) had the longest previous spans of 12 years.
Every so often, though, Williams' reign has been interrupted by health problems.
She missed eight months after having surgery on her left knee in 2003, the year she had completed a self-styled "Serena Slam" by winning four consecutive major titles.
Of more concern was what happened only a few days after she won Wimbledon in 2010. Williams cut both feet on broken glass while leaving a restaurant in Germany, leading to two operations on her right foot. Then she got blood clots in her lungs and needed to inject herself with a blood thinner. Those shots led to a pool of blood gathering under her stomach's skin, requiring another procedure in the hospital.
In all, she was off the tour for about 10 months.
"She was so disgusted at home. She felt like she was useless. That's the way it is with athletes, I guess. She couldn't sit still," Price said Sunday night. "She was getting depressed. A lot to overcome."
Talk about making up for lost time.
After her stunning first-round loss at Roland Garros to a woman ranked 111th, Williams went back to work, getting help from Patrick Mouratoglou, a coach who runs a tennis academy in France. She's 14-0 in Grand Slam matches since then; the Wimbledon trophy ended a two-year drought without a major title.
Djokovic, Murray to meet for men's title
NEW YORK - There is no roof at the U.S. Open, but there certainly is a ceiling in men's tennis. Spain's David Ferrer, the world's No. 5 player, bumped his head on that upper barrier Sunday, losing to defending champion Novak Djokovic, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, in the storm-delayed semifinal held over from Saturday.
So today, Andy Murray will have a go at trying to reach the top rungs of the tennis ladder where, for almost a decade, only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic have resided. With his four-set semifinal win over Tomas Berdych completed in the howling winds Saturday afternoon, Murray advanced to his fifth major singles final, where he is 0-for-4.
"Obviously, it's the last thing I really want to achieve in my career," Murray said. "It's very important to me. Winning the Olympics did take a bit of pressure off; I did feel a lot better after that, maybe have less doubts about myself and my place in the game now."
Djokovic, whose five major titles include a decision over Murray in the 2011 Australian Open final, called Murray "one of the complete players in the world right now. We all knew he's definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam title any year in the last five years. He's going to be very motivated. But me, too."
Murray this year has become "more aggressive," Djokovic said, "going for the shots more than he used to. Probably that's the only thing he was missing from his game."
Based on Djokovic's play Sunday, though, Murray will be facing a Michelangelo-like task, trying to do his best work in a most uncomfortable position. Djokovic was razor sharp, acknowledging that he "didn't mind, trust me" when Open officials suspended his match Saturday with Ferrer leading 5-2.
On Saturday, "Ferrer was coping with the conditions much better than I did," Djokovic said. "I was a different player (yesterday)."
Though Ferrer quickly served out the postponed first set, Djokovic went on a five-game run made more impressive by Ferrer's defensive persistence.
Though Djokovic was credited with hitting 34 winners in the match, that number could have been doubled, given Ferrer's ability to keep sending back potential point-ending shots. Rallies extended to 24, 25 and 27 strokes, and the punch-and-counterpunch scenario evolved into trading roundhouse blows.
Ferrer, whose No. 5 world ranking somehow doesn't put him especially close to the top four, wasn't clear when the English word "gap" was presented to him. But, with a front-row seat to the sport's power base, he freely admitted that "the last five years, Novak, Andy, Rafael and Federer are better than the other ones."
Why?
"Because they are better," Ferrer, 30, said. "Because they serve better than other guys. The mentality of them is better, no? A lot of things."
With top-ranked Federer upset by Berdych in the quarterfinals and Nadal an Open absentee with knee tendinitis, Monday's final matchup is an evident conclusion: Djokovic and Murray.
Early Saturday, the Serbian Djokovic and the Scot Murray together watched a soccer match between their nations on a computer.
"We tried to be quiet," Djo kovic said, "but inside we were cheering."
The soccer game ended 0-0. Sunday's match will not.![]()
NEW YORK - Finally tested, even trailing, at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams turned things around just in time.
Two points from defeat, Williams suddenly regained her composure and her strokes, coming back to win the last four games and beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 on Sunday night for her fourth championship at Flushing Meadows and 15th Grand Slam title overall.
"I honestly can't believe I won. I really was preparing my runner-up speech, because I thought, `Man, she's playing so great,"' Williams said during the trophy presentation after the 2-hour, 18-minute match, adding: "I'm really shocked."
Might be the only one.
After all, what really was stunning was that the top-ranked Azarenka made things as interesting as they were, given that she came into the day 1-9 against Williams.
Add in that Williams hadn't dropped a set in the tournament, losing only 19 games through six matches before Sunday. All part of a tremendous run she is putting together in reaction to her loss at the French Open in late May, the American's only first-round exit in 49 career major tournaments. Since then, she is 26-1, winning Wimbledon and the London Olympics.
There hadn't been a three-set women's final in New York since 1995, and Williams came through with a late charge to become the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since a decade ago, when - yes, that's right - she did it.
"She never gives up," said Azarenka, who managed only 13 winners, 31 fewer than Williams. "She's definitely the toughest player, mentally, there is and she's got the power."
While Azarenka, a 23-year-old from Belarus, doesn't have the name recognition or bona fides of Williams, she did win the Australian Open in January, and was 32-2 (a .941 winning percentage) on hard courts in 2012. She also hadn't dropped a three-setter all season until Sunday, going 12-0 in matches that went the distance, including victories over defending U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.
As Sunday's third set commenced, Williams' mother, Oracene Price, told her from the stands, "Settle down."
Didn't happen right away.
"Well, she's a human being, you know, who has two feet, two legs, two hands," Azarenka said. "It's understandable."
When Williams double-faulted, slapped a bad backhand into the net and pushed a forehand long, Azarenka broke at love for a 4-3 edge, then followed that up by holding for 5-3.
One game from the championship.
Azarenka was two points away at 30-all with the fourth-seeded Williams serving in the next game, but couldn't convert. And when Azarenka served for the victory at 5-4, she showed the jitters that probably are understandable given that this was only her second career Grand Slam final, 17 fewer than Williams.
Azarenka made three errors in that game, including a forehand into the net that let Williams break her to 5-all. Williams kept whatever excitement she might have felt contained, face straight as possible, while her older sister, seven-time major champion Venus, smiled and clapped in the stands.
That was during a key stretch in which Williams took 10 of 12 points to go ahead 6-5. She then broke again to win, dropping onto her back on the court when Azarenka sent a backhand long to end it.
"Feels like there is no room for a mistake," is the way Azarenka described trying to deal with Williams' game. "There is no room for a wrong decision."
Azarenka slumped in her changeover chair, a white towel covering her head, as Williams kept saying, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" while scurrying over to share the joy with her mother and big sister.
"Being so close, it hurts deeply," Azarenka said. "To know you don't have it. You're close; you didn't get it."
Williams, who turns 31 on Sept. 26, is the first 30-year-old woman to win the U.S. Open since Martina Navratilova in 1987.
Williams is dominating the game right now. And she's been dominant, off and on, for more than a decade.
She won her very first major championship at age 17 at the 1999 U.S. Open. Winning titles 13 years apart at the same Grand Slam tournament represents the longest span of success in the professional era, which began in 1968. Navratilova (Wimbledon, 1978 and 1990) and Chris Evert (French Open, 1974 and 1986) had the longest previous spans of 12 years.
Every so often, though, Williams' reign has been interrupted by health problems.
She missed eight months after having surgery on her left knee in 2003, the year she had completed a self-styled "Serena Slam" by winning four consecutive major titles.
Of more concern was what happened only a few days after she won Wimbledon in 2010. Williams cut both feet on broken glass while leaving a restaurant in Germany, leading to two operations on her right foot. Then she got blood clots in her lungs and needed to inject herself with a blood thinner. Those shots led to a pool of blood gathering under her stomach's skin, requiring another procedure in the hospital.
In all, she was off the tour for about 10 months.
"She was so disgusted at home. She felt like she was useless. That's the way it is with athletes, I guess. She couldn't sit still," Price said Sunday night. "She was getting depressed. A lot to overcome."
Talk about making up for lost time.
After her stunning first-round loss at Roland Garros to a woman ranked 111th, Williams went back to work, getting help from Patrick Mouratoglou, a coach who runs a tennis academy in France. She's 14-0 in Grand Slam matches since then; the Wimbledon trophy ended a two-year drought without a major title.
Djokovic, Murray to meet for men's title
NEW YORK - There is no roof at the U.S. Open, but there certainly is a ceiling in men's tennis. Spain's David Ferrer, the world's No. 5 player, bumped his head on that upper barrier Sunday, losing to defending champion Novak Djokovic, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, in the storm-delayed semifinal held over from Saturday.
So today, Andy Murray will have a go at trying to reach the top rungs of the tennis ladder where, for almost a decade, only Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic have resided. With his four-set semifinal win over Tomas Berdych completed in the howling winds Saturday afternoon, Murray advanced to his fifth major singles final, where he is 0-for-4.
"Obviously, it's the last thing I really want to achieve in my career," Murray said. "It's very important to me. Winning the Olympics did take a bit of pressure off; I did feel a lot better after that, maybe have less doubts about myself and my place in the game now."
Djokovic, whose five major titles include a decision over Murray in the 2011 Australian Open final, called Murray "one of the complete players in the world right now. We all knew he's definitely a contender to win a Grand Slam title any year in the last five years. He's going to be very motivated. But me, too."
Murray this year has become "more aggressive," Djokovic said, "going for the shots more than he used to. Probably that's the only thing he was missing from his game."
Based on Djokovic's play Sunday, though, Murray will be facing a Michelangelo-like task, trying to do his best work in a most uncomfortable position. Djokovic was razor sharp, acknowledging that he "didn't mind, trust me" when Open officials suspended his match Saturday with Ferrer leading 5-2.
On Saturday, "Ferrer was coping with the conditions much better than I did," Djokovic said. "I was a different player (yesterday)."
Though Ferrer quickly served out the postponed first set, Djokovic went on a five-game run made more impressive by Ferrer's defensive persistence.
Though Djokovic was credited with hitting 34 winners in the match, that number could have been doubled, given Ferrer's ability to keep sending back potential point-ending shots. Rallies extended to 24, 25 and 27 strokes, and the punch-and-counterpunch scenario evolved into trading roundhouse blows.
Ferrer, whose No. 5 world ranking somehow doesn't put him especially close to the top four, wasn't clear when the English word "gap" was presented to him. But, with a front-row seat to the sport's power base, he freely admitted that "the last five years, Novak, Andy, Rafael and Federer are better than the other ones."
Why?
"Because they are better," Ferrer, 30, said. "Because they serve better than other guys. The mentality of them is better, no? A lot of things."
With top-ranked Federer upset by Berdych in the quarterfinals and Nadal an Open absentee with knee tendinitis, Monday's final matchup is an evident conclusion: Djokovic and Murray.
Early Saturday, the Serbian Djokovic and the Scot Murray together watched a soccer match between their nations on a computer.
"We tried to be quiet," Djo kovic said, "but inside we were cheering."
The soccer game ended 0-0. Sunday's match will not.