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."
No comments:
Post a Comment