Melbourne, Jan 31
Neither illness, nor
second-ranked Maria Sharapova could stop the unyielding titan of women's
tennis, Serena Williams, from getting her hands on her 19th Grand Slam
crown after a straight sets win in the Australian Open final here
Saturday.
A weary Williams fought off a chest infection and a
fast-finishing Sharapova but maintained the upper hand to take her sixth
Australian Open title 6-3, 7-6(5) in one hour and 51 minutes at the Rod
Laver Arena, reports Xinhua.
In fitting style, the big serving
American belted an unreachable ace and leapt with joy to repeat her
2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 efforts at Melbourne Park.
Only
Margaret Court, on 24 titles, and Steffi Graf, with 22 Grand Slams, are
ahead of the American and while the 33-year-old dismissed with a shake
of her head her chances of reaching those heights, she showed there is
daylight between her and the rest of the world.
Williams had not
lost against Sharapova since 2004 but with her chest and throat
infection reported to be worsening, many believed it was Sharapova's
chance to finally break the 15-match losing streak.
As a sign of
her afflictions, a spluttering Williams returned from a short rain delay
early in the match only to again retreat off-court to vomit. But the
sickness only sharpened Williams' willingness to go blast the Russian
off the court.
With cool nerves, she served rockets with pinpoint
accuracy to ensure Sharapova had few look-ins to break ahead while
blasting 38 winners in total. As the final stretched into a second hour,
Sharapova's stock rose and the lengthening rallies wore out the
American.
However, Williams aced herself out of tight spots time
and again to heap pressure back on Sharapova. The World No.1 later said
she was unwell throughout the tournament's second week.
"I've
been through so much the past week (that) I really didn't expect to win.
Every time I didn't feel great, I started to feel better and then the
next day I got worse. There were a lot of ups-and-downs. It's been a
long time since I've been to the final here or the semi-final," said
Williams.
In the first championship playoff between the top two
seeds since 2004, Williams said she was honoured to have beaten the
World No.2. "She gave us a great final not just for (the fans) but for
women's tennis."
Williams began her sixth Australian Open final
perfectly, grabbing the ascendancy with a break in the first game. Just
as she did throughout the match, Williams took Sharapova's erratic
second serve from a foot inside the baseline and blasted winners. Such
was her dominance on Sharapova's serve in the first set that Williams
broke twice in a row to love.
Sharapova showed better resistance
in the second set but she was unable to produce more than a solitary
break point. Sharapova twice got to 0-30 on William's serve but could
only watch on as the ruthless American fired consecutive unreturnable
serves to dig her way out.
"I didn't feel I had many chances to
get in the point. As much as I would love to hit a 200-km-an-hour serve,
I just don't think it is feasible with my shoulder," said Sharapova,
who defended a championship point in the 10th game.
In the second-set tiebreak, Sharapova's early mini-break quickly evaporated when her serve faltered.
"In
the tiebreaker, I gave her many looks on the second serve. Even though
they were good, deep second serves, she was ready. Aggressive," said the
No.2 seed.
It allowed Williams to push the Russian deep and move
to a 4-1 lead that Sharapova could never fully draw back. Williams
departs Melbourne having matched her United States Open haul of six
championships. She has also won twice at the French Open and five times
at Wimbledon.
