Sport

Serena captures her ninth Major and No. 1 ranking

NEW YORK: American Serena Williams defeated second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 in the women’s U.S. Open final on Sunday for her ninth career Grand Slam title and the World No. 1 ranking.

There was plenty at stake as fourth-seeded Williams received the WTA top ranking, a spot she previously held for 57 weeks beginning in 2002.

“I am so excited,” Williams said. “I wasn’t even going for number one. It is just an added bonus.”

Williams, playing in her first U.S. Open final in six years, also picked up $1.5 million in first-place prize money and moved into third on the all-time money list.

The 26-year-old Williams won her 32nd career singles title and wiped away some of the disappointment of losing to sister Venus in the Wimbledon final earlier this year.

Williams fired three aces and hammered 44 winners in the two hour, four minute match in front of a crowd of 19,000 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams, who also won the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2002, is enjoying a revival in her game as she stormed through all seven rounds at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set en route to posting her fourth singles title of 2008.

“This is special,” she said. “I have been working so hard.”

On Sunday, she kept the Serbian off guard by imposing her powerful serve and strong ground strokes on Jankovic, who was competing in her first Grand Slam final.

The 21-year-old Jankovic came out with more spark in the opening set, taking an early break to go up 2-1.

But Williams broke back in the fourth, sixth and 10th games to take the set.

Williams clinched the match on her second match point, blasting a backhand winner into the open side of the court.

She celebrated by throwing her racket into the air and then jumping up and down before going to the net to shake Jankovic’s hand.

Jankovic blew her chance to force a third set as she was up 5-3, 40-0 but then made three straight unforced errors to let Williams off the hook.

Both players didn’t want to give an inch, even driving the ball directly at each other on a couple of net points.

They both thanked their family and friends and even joked around during the award’s ceremony on the court.

“How much do I get?” asked Jankovic, who earned $750,000 as the runner-up.

This is the ninth time in history that a Grand Slam final has featured two women battling for number one in the world.

Sixth-seeded Briton Andy Murray reached his first Grand Slam final in commanding style by upsetting World No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday.

The shrewd Scot outplayed the Spanish left-hander in a semifinal contest that began on Saturday on the Louis Armstrong court and ended more than 24 hours later in the showpiece Arthur Ashe Stadium after being interrupted by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Leading by two sets but trailing 2-3 in the third overnight, Murray lost the third set before breaking the Spaniard in the 10th game of the fourth, wrapping up the biggest victory of his career with a backhand winner.

The 21-year-old Briton will play four-time defending champion Roger Federer in Monday’s final, the Swiss maestro having beaten Serb Novak Djokovic on Saturday.

“Very relieved,” an emotional Murray said in a courtside interview on a sun-splashed, blustery afternoon after ripping 65 winners past Nadal, including 21 aces.

“To come back after yesterday when I was two sets up was obviously tough to sleep on. I’m so glad I came through.

“I thought I was playing well enough to win but I knew Nadal was going to come at me.”

Murray, who will attempt to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry at the 1936 U.S. Open, has a 2-1 record against world number two Federer.

“He’s probably the greatest player ever, so to get the chance to play against him in a Slam final is an honour,” said the Scot, the first Briton since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to advance to the championship match at the U.S. Open. — Agencies

Prefix denotes seeding

Men’s singles: Semifinals: 6-Andy Murray (GBr) bt 1-Rafael Nadal (Esp) 6-2, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4.

Women’s singles: Final: 4-Serena Williams (U.S.) bt 2-Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 6-4, 7-5. Doubles: Final: 1-Cara Black (Zim) & Liezel Huber (U.S.) bt. 10-Lisa Raymond (U.S.) & Samantha Stosur (Aus) 6-3, 7-6(6).

Champions Invitational (round-robin): Men’s singles: Pat Cash (Aus) bt Mats Wilander (Swe) 6-2, 6-2.

Junior singles: Boys’ final: 3-Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) bt Devin Britton (U.S.) 6-4, 6-3. Girls’ final: CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.) bt Gabriela Paz Franco (Ven) 7-6(3), 6-1.

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