Sunday 26 October 2014

Serena Williams wins WTA Finals

Serena Williams beat Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 Sunday 26 October 2014 to win her third-successive title at the WTA Finals - and her fifth overall.

Halep easily beat Williams just four days earlier during the group stage of the tournament, but Williams turned that around with an aggressive game plan that unsettled the Romanian player.

Williams won 11 of the last 12 games in the match to join Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only players to have won five titles in the season-ending championships.

The 33-year-old pulled out of her previous two tournaments with illness and a knee injury, yet still claimed the $2 million first prize, claimed the Billie-Jean King Trophy and also had a breed of orchid named after her in recognition.
"I just started training, because I had such a bad knee in Beijing I didn't know if I'd be able to play here, and now I have won the Billie-Jean King trophy - I am so excited," Williams said. 
"I had to play more Serena-style tennis and just do what I do best," Williams said.
"I was expecting a much better player than I was in the earlier round. Being ready for that really was able to help me out."
However, her relative lack of experience of big occasions compared to the 18-time Grand Slam champion proved telling.
"It was an amazing week so I can't be too sad that I lost," Halep said. "Congratulations to Serena, you are the best." 
"I was nervous before the match that I had to play this big final," Halep said. "I couldn't manage very well the situation.
"I knew that she would be more motivated during this match because we played a few days ago and I won."
"I have no regrets because I did my job on court against Ivanovic," Halep said. "That was the chance but she deserves to win the title. She's much better."

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