Serena Williams Wins Western And Southern Open

With all due respect to N.W.A, the biggest star to come out of Compton that people should be talking about this summer is Serena Williams.

Williams, 33, defeated Indian Wells champion Simona Halep in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to win the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.  As astounding as it sounds, it is only the second time that Williams has won the tournament in her career. Albeit she defended her title and is now a back-to-back champion at the event.

Halep jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Williams which seemed to have an effect on her game.  The American had to overcome an uncharacteristically poor performance in her serve to win the first set 6-3.

ESPN analyst turned Adidas coach Darren Cahill provided sound advice to Halep between sets and the Romanian raised her level to keep up with Williams.  In the second set, Halep was able to force Williams to play a tie-break for the match.

Despite a resilient performance from the Romanian, Williams played better from the baseline and survived a final rally from Halep to win the match.  The final rally ended with a drop shot that fell into the net and Williams celebrated emphatically.  The victory marked her 69th career title.

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In defeating Jelena Janković in the semifinals, Halep passed Maria Sharapova for second place in the rankings which means she will be the second seeded player at the U.S. Open next week.

Williams will enter the U.S. Open as the three-time defending champion and the top-seeded player on the women’s side.  Amazingly, at 33 years of age, Williams is having arguably the best year of her career.  To open the year, she defeated rival Sharapova to win the Australian Open.  In defeating Lucie Šafářová to win the French Open and Garbiñe Muguruza to win Wimbledon she has put herself on the edge of history.

There is now a beautiful symmetry as Serena goes into New York.  Williams will attempt to win the calendar year Grand Slam in which a player holds all four major tournaments at the same time; the last time the feat was achieved was in 1988 by Steffi Graf.  Should Williams win the U.S. Open, she will not only complete the set but she will tie Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slams.

The number would tie her at second most all-time behind only Margaret Court’s 24.

Aug 23, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Roger Federer (SUI) holds the Rookwood Cup and acknowledges the fans after defeating Novak Djokovic (not pictured) in the finals during the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament at the Linder Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

On the men’s side, fans were treated to another contest between the top two players in the world as 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic to win his seventh title in Cincy.  The latter failed to win the tournament for the fifth time in a row, having now fallen twice in the final to Federer.

The Swiss Maestro won in straight sets, winning 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 to defeat Djokovic.  The victory puts Federer in second place in the rankings behind the Serb which means the only way the two will meet in New York is if they both make it to the final.

Djokovic and Federer have met several times this year already; Djokovic notably prevailed over Federer in Southern California at Indian Wells and Wimbledon final this year.

Federer turned 34 earlier this month and Williams will be turning 34 shortly after the U.S. Open.

The U.S. Open will begin next Monday on August 31 in New York.