CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Serena Williams held off a fierce challenge from Simona Halep to win her fifth WTA title of the year, the milestone 69th WTA title of her career, keep an amazing finals streak going and head into the US Open – where she’s going for her 22nd major – brimming with confidence.
There were scratchy moments during the week, including a big quarterfinal scare against Ana Ivanovic, but when it came down to the final Williams brought out her very best tennis, coming back from 3-1 down to take the first set and then surviving a marathon 67-minute second set to prevail, 6-3, 7-6(5).
Halep didn’t leave empty-handed – by reaching the final, she’ll now return to World No.2 on the new WTA Rankings, which determine the US Open seeds – meaning she can’t play Williams until the final.
Williams now has a WTA-leading five titles on the season, having already won the Australian Open, Miami, the French Open and Wimbledon, and she’s now won 69 WTA titles in her career, which sets her apart from Evonne Goolagong as standalone fifth place for most WTA titles in the Open Era, trailing only Martina Navratilova (167), Chris Evert (154), Steffi Graf (107) and Margaret Court (92).
Serena Williams supero a una de las jovenes promesas del tenis mundial Simona Halep en una intensa final para ganar su quinto titulo del año, el 69 de la WTA, y declarandose en gran momento para el US Open que arranca que el proximo fin de semana, en el que busca su vigesimo segundo Grand Slam…
Paso algunos momentos de susto durante la semana, incluyendo el partido de cuartos de final ante Ana Ivanovic, pero se recupero de un 3-1 abajo y temrino ganando en un maratonico segundo set de 67 minutos, 6-3 y 7-6..
Por su lado Halep no se va con las manos vacías,pues al llegar a la final recupera su condicion de numero 2 del mundo, que determina su preclasificacion en el US Open, lo que significa que solo enfrentaria a Serena en una final.
Serena Williams ahora lidera los titulos de la temporada de la WTA con 5, despues de ganar Australia, Miami, Francia, y Wimbledon.