World Tennis

    Serena Williams won 4th World Champion Title !!!


    Williams - Li 2-6 6-3 6-0


    Since 4-3 in 2nd set She won 9 gems in a row.



    After a grinding 64 26 64 semifinal victory over Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, Williams talked about having hit a wall after the longest - and arguably best - season of her career. And during the early stages of the final against Li, it looked like she was still trying to break through that figurative wall.


    The No.4-seeded Li was phenomenal in the first set - she blasted a huge crosscourt backhand to break for 2-1, then a picture perfect angled backhand return winner to break again for 4-1. She would never look back and showed off some of her newfound volleying skills on set point, coming into the net and hitting some fantastic volleys, winning the set on a missed backhand passing shot from Williams.


    Li had 10 winners to eight unforced errors in the set. Williams, five winners to 10 unforced errors.


    Williams was in trouble again in the first game of the second set, as Li brought up break points - having not even faced a break point in the first set, surely a set and a break would be somewhat of a trunk-slammer. But after a backhand winner to fight off one of the break points, Williams let out a huge 'come on' - to the delight of the fans, the 17-time Grand Slam champion and World No.1 had awoken.


    The No.1-seeded Williams would race out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, and even though Li would get it back to 3-all, it never seemed like the momentum had fully shifted - and it hadn't, as Williams would then reel off the next nine games in a row to complete a runaway 26 63 60 championship victory.


    Williams blasted a backhand winner down the line on match point - her 30th winner of the match.


    An elated Williams spoke to Katrina Adams in her on-court interview right after the match.


    "I don't know how I got through that one," Williams said. "I've just had a really long year, and I'm just really excited, honestly. I really didn't expect to get through this match today. Wow, thank God.


    "I can't believe I won. I was so tired. Honestly, did I really win? Because she played so well."


    The numbers keep piling up for Williams: she is the fourth player ever to win four or more titles at this event (after Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf); she is the oldest ever champion at this event (at 32 years and 1 month); she is the first player to win 11 WTA titles in a season since 1997 (when Martina Hingis won 12); and she has now won 32 of her last 34 matches against Top 5 players.


    Most amazingly, she now has $12,385,572 in prize money for the year, shattering the all-time women's record set last year by Victoria Azarenka ($7,923,920). It's also the third-highest single season prize money total in tennis history, men's and women's - only Djokovic's 2011 and 2012 totals are higher.


    "I'm just overjoyed, to be honest," Williams added. "It's really awesome. It's such a special moment. To finish the year No.1 in the world and win this title after 40 years of the WTA, it means even more."

    Serena's 78-4 win-loss matches in a season is the best record for a Woman in 23 years.

    Yesterday She won 57th WTA Title.

    Well.. 8th / 47 places in WTA Championships Prediction Game isn't bad result also.. 4 pts more and would be Bronze Medal.

    Serena's 11 WTA Titles in one season are the best record in 16 years.

    She is first and the oldest Woman in history who, with 32 years old, won World Champion Title.



    Serena Williams picked up right where she left off in 2013 in her first tournament of 2014, winning the 58th WTA title of her illustrious career at the Brisbane International.


    Watch highlights, interviews and much more video from Brisbane right here on wtatennis.com!


    In an absolute dream final between the Top 2 players in the world, the No.1-ranked Williams squared off against No.2-ranked Victoria Azarenka, and from the beginning Williams was in control - she had almost five times as many winners as Azarenka in the first set (14 to 3) and also stepped up when it really counted, converting on the only break point in the entire set. She would take the set, 6-4.


    The second set was streakier - Williams stormed out to a 2-0 lead, Azarenka ran off four games in a row to lead 4-2, then Williams caught up again. Eventually the pair fell into a holding pattern until Williams broke one last time for 6-5, then she calmly served the match out to prevail, 64 75.


    "I want to congratulate Serena on a great week and a great match today," Azarenka said at the on-court trophy presentation. "I always enjoy playing you and I hope to meet you again in Melbourne.


    "Since my first year here I've had such good memories and I'll take some from this year too."


    Williams was then given her trophy and took the microphone. "I want to congratulate Vika for being a great player and a great champion, and just someone I enjoy playing against and seeing around," Williams said. "And I hope we do play in Melbourne because that would mean we would make it far.


    "I would also like to thank the crowd here in Brisbane for always being so supportive."


    "We love you Serena!" a fan yelled out.


    "I love you back!" she replied.


    Williams now has 58 WTA titles to her name. She is still No.7 on the all-time leaders for WTA titles, following Martina Navratilova (who leads the all-time list with 167 WTA titles), Chris Evert (154), Steffi Graf (107), Margaret Court (92), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (68) and Billie Jean King (67).


    Williams will now go into the Australian Open having won 22 matches in a row since falling to Azarenka in the finals of Cincinnati - but another streak, Azarenka's 24 wins in a row in Australia, came to an end.



    Highlights




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