Williams battles past Azarenka for fifth US crown
Serena Williams won her 17th Grand Slam title and 5th US Open title with a hard fought 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka at Flushing Meadows.
On a blustery day in New York the American top seed broke with a powerful backhand in the first game but Azarenka struck straight back to level. Games went serve until Williams had to fight through a long tenth game to eventually hold for 5-5.
The World No.1 rifled a backhand return to Azarenka’s feet to break for 6-5 and then held serve to love to take the lead. When she opened a 4-1 double break lead in the second set a comfortable Williams victory looked to be on the cards.
However two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka broke back in the sixth game and broke Williams when the four-time champion served for the match at 5-4. The 31 year-old US No.1 served for the title again at 6-5 but Azarenka broke back and levelled the match in the tie-break.
Williams began the third set with a double fault and a netted backhand but held on and the American struck the first blow by breaking in a lengthy fourth game when Azarenka double faulted.
The No.1 seed broke again for 5-1 and Williams had her 55th career singles title when Azarenka sent a final backhand long after two hours and 45 minutes of battle in the Arthur Ashe stadium.
Stat Attack – Williams
- The American has now won multiple Grand Slams in six separate seasons – Martina Navratilova also achieved 6, Steffi Graf and Chris Evert won multiple majors five times
- The 14 year gap between Williams first (in 1999) and most recent US Open titles is the longest in women’s tennis
- Williams has now won 9 titles in 2013 – the most she has ever won in a season
Stat Attack – Azarenka
- The Belarusian is the first woman to lose consecutive US Open finals in three sets since Evonne Goolagong fell in three sets in three finals 1973-75
- Azarenka has yet to beat Williams in eight meetings in the major championships
Nadal dominates Djokovic for second US title
Rafael Nadal won his second US Open title with an impressive four set defeat of World No.1 Novak Djokovic in New York on Monday night.
The world’s top two were meeting for a record 37th time and for the third time in the New York showpiece having split the previous two finals.
On this occasion it was Nadal who struck early with the 2nd seed slamming away a short forehand to break for a 2-1 lead in the first set. The 27 year-old broke again in the seventh game and comfortably took the first set after 42 minutes.
Djokovic fought back in the second set and broke in the sixth game after winning a sensational 54 stroke rally on break point. The top seeded Serb conceded his serve a game later but broke Nadal again for 5-3 and levelled the match a game later with a backhand winner down the line.
Djokovic carried the momentum into the third with an early break and held a point for 3-0 but missed a backhand long and Nadal survived.
Nadal broke back in the sixth game when Djokovic again erred on the backhand. In a dramatic ninth game Nadal staved off three break points in holding for 5-4 before breaking Djokovic a game later to take the lead.
The fourth set was all Nadal as the 2010 champion fired a forehand winner to break in the second game and broke again in the sixth game. On the Spaniard’s first championship point Djokovic netted a forehand and Nadal had claimed his 13th Grand Slam singles title and 60th career title.
Stat Attack – Nadal
- With his 13th major title Nadal moves into 3rd on the all-time list behind Roger Federer (17) and Pete Sampras (14)
- Nadal is just the second man in the Open era to win the French Open and US Open twice in the same season after Ivan Lendl who won both in 1986 and 1987
- The Spaniard has now won 10 titles in 2013 – he has only surpassed this once with 11 titles in 2005
Stat Attack – Djokovic
- Djokovic is the fourth man in the Open era to reach four straight US Open finals following Ivan Lendl (8), Federer (6) and Jimmy Connors (5)
- The Serb now has a 6-6 record in major singles finals with 9 of those coming on hard courts
2012 finalists go one better in Doubles finals
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek lifted the Men’s doubles title with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over 2nd seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares. The 4th seeded Indian and Czech team ended the Bryan Brothers hopes of a calendar year Grand Slam in the semi-finals.
Fifth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka won the Women's doubles crown by recovering from a set and a break down to defeat 8th seeded Australians Casey Dellacqua and Ashleigh Barty 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4. The Czechs won their 2nd major title after scoring a first victory over the Williams sisters in the last four.
Hlavackova became the first player since Cara Black in 2008 to sweep both doubles titles in New York as she and Max Mirnyi saw off Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez 7-6(5), 6-3 to win the mixed doubles crown.