Williams seals US Open glory
by Dave Maher, 08 September 2008
Serena Williams beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5 in a superb encounter to secure her third US Open title and return to the top of the world rankings.
Fourth seed Williams saw off a brave and thrilling effort from the Serbian to claim her ninth grand slam triumph.
Jankovic started the brighter, but Williams was able to break her opponent’s serve three times in the opening set before going on to edge the second, after saving four set points.
Jankovic almost race into a 3-1 first set lead, with Williams losing her second service game of the clash to love. The second seed, in a grand slam final for the first time, however, faltered when 40-0 up and allowed the American to fight back and eventually move into a commanding position in the set.
Jankovic, though, broke back to move to 4-5, before dropping her serve in the next game, with Williams securing the set after her rival’s return went long.
Williams was on the front foot, with Jankovic just managing to hold on her first service game of the second set.
After the first six games of the second set had gone with serve, Jankovic went 4-3 ahead following a mistake from Williams and the 23-year-old had a fantastic opportunity to force the match into a deciding set when 0-40 up in Williams’ next service game.
However, Williams fought back again to hold, before breaking in the next game and then going into a 6-5 lead.
The win was secured when Jankovic’s serve was broken for the final time in the next game, as Williams completed the thrilling encounter with a total of 44 winners and 39 unforced errors.