Serena Williams has won her fourth Australian Open title following an utterly masterful mauling of Russian Dinara Safina. The American blitzed the No. 3 seed 6-0 6-3 in under an hour, smacking 23 winners and four aces while committing just seven unforced errors. From the first point, Williams looked amazingly sharp, her groundstrokes grooved, serve dominant and return devastating.Safina had no answer to Williams’ all-court power, and could only watch as 12 winners whistled by her in the first set. Williams had already raced ahead 5-0 within 18 minutes when the Russian No. 3 seed decided to change her approach, attacking the net in the sixth game in a bid to disrupt the American’s momentum.It was a tactic that failed to pay dividends – she only one won point in that game as Williams took the opening stanza in 22 minutes.Safina was thankfully more competitive in the second set, clinching an unlikely break to move ahead 1-0 – her first lead of any kind during the match. Her advantage was dishearteningly short-lived, however, as Williams broke back immediately and went on to hold for a 2-1 lead.Safina was completely shell-shocked, and her game responded accordingly – she committed further double faults and errors to hand the American a 4-1 lead, and in just 44 minutes, the match was rapidly nearing a close. To her credit, the Russian held firm in her subsequent service game, holding after a battle in the eighth game to force Williams to serve for the title.As expected, the American wasted little time, serving out the final game to love and clinching the tournament after Safina attempted a drop shot on match point that landed just wide of the sideline. It was a performance reminiscent of Williams’ annihilation of Maria Sharapova in the 2007 Melbourne Park final, and she joyously headed over to her player’s box to celebrate with her tight-knit entourage.Williams now ascends to world No. 1 following the win.Quick factsThe first set lasted 22 minutes, with Safina winning just eight points Williams won 95 per cent of points when she landed her first serve (20-for-21)Safina had 21 unforced errors, while Williams had sevenThe Russian won just seven of 37 points on the Williams serveWilliams converted five of six break point opportunities
No comments:
Post a Comment