MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 29 -- Serena Williams beat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, in the Australian Open final Saturday, making a stirring comeback after injuring her back in the opening game.
Williams stretched her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 14 matches and captured her seventh Grand Slam singles title, ending an 18-month drought without one.
Serena Williams overcomes a rib injury and rallies to defeat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport to win the Australian Open title Saturday.
(AFP)
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She beat sister Venus to win the final here two years ago -- when the Williams sisters were at the top of women's tennis -- but couldn't defend the title last year because of a knee injury.
The seventh-seeded Williams, who fended off three match points in her semifinal win over Maria Sharapova on Thursday, made a dramatic comeback after needing a medical timeout in the first set for what a trainer initially described as a rib injury.
"Lindsay had me on the run. My back went out -- I'm not as young as I used to be," Williams, 23, said. "Eventually I was able to come back."
Coming to grips with a series of injuries and the shooting death of her sister, Yetunde Price, in September 2003 had been hard enough, Williams said, without having to face persistent questions about "what's wrong with the Williams sisters?"
"There's nothing wrong with us," she said Saturday. "We're still players to beat."
Williams said regaining the Australian title was the start of a resurgence: "This gives me confidence."
Davenport, who won the last of her three Grand Slam titles here in 2000 and hadn't been in the final of a major since the 2000 U.S. Open, won only eight points in the third set.
After Davenport's backhand landed long on match point, Williams dropped to one knee and raised both arms in the air.
She held up her index finger, showing she's No. 1, before walking over to her entourage in the crowd and slapping hands with her mother, Oracene, and Australian hitting partner Mark Hlawaty.
Davenport, who lost in the women's double final Friday afternoon, said Williams was too strong in the end.
"She's had a tough couple of years, but she's come back like the champion she is," Davenport, 28, said.
Davenport raced to a 4-0 lead after 11 minutes in the first set, breaking Williams's serve in the first and third games.
