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Williams Powers to Title at U.S. Open
Serena Williams, of the United States, reacts after winning a game against Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia, during the women's finals championship match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
(Elise Amendola - AP)
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Credit Williams, who played the critical points better.
"I gave her a lot of gifts when it was crucial," Jankovic said. "So many chances to win that second set, and I let my chances go away. I cannot turn back the time. I wish I could."
Williams won the opening point of the match by blasting a backhand with such force that it dislodged one of her gold hoop earrings.
But Williams did far more than outmuscle the Serb. She played shrewd tennis, reeling off a winning volley, overhead and serve in succession when she faced three break points in the second set.
She also kept her unforced errors (39) from undercutting her outright winners (44), which had been her undoing earlier in her career.
The victory was Williams's first major title since January 2007, and completed a remarkable resurgence of a once-brilliant career that had slipped to relative obscurity because of illness and injury.
But Williams, who held the No. 1 ranking from July 2002 to August 2003, recommitted herself to tennis at the end of last year, encouraged by family and friends who insisted she had not accomplished all she could or should have.
Less than a decade ago, it seemed that Venus and Serena would be perennial U.S. Open finalists. They took turns hoisting the trophy from 1999 to 2002. In response, tournament officials moved the women's final to Saturday night for prime-time network exposure.
But the Williamses tumbled from the rankings thereafter, and the parade of Belgians and Russians that succeeded them drew only a fraction of the TV audience the sisters had commanded.
Any chance of an all-Williams final was spoiled by this year's draw, which pitted the sisters against each other in the quarterfinals. In beating Venus in straight sets, Serena, it turned out, dispatched of her most difficult opponent she would face.
Jankovic, playing in her first major final, started impressively, breaking Williams in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. But all that did was rouse Williams's competitive fire. She charged back to win five of the next seven games and, with it, the opening set.
Still, Jankovic refused to wilt. She got an early break in the second set and had four chances to force a third -- when Williams served at 3-5 and again when Jankovic served at 5-4.
They were missed opportunities, all. But the Serb smiled through her post-match interview nonetheless, laughing at how odd it was to look up at key points and see her face, as big as a New York City billboard, on the courtside JumboTron. With a $740,000 second-place check, she declared herself rich and vowed to go shopping Monday.
And next year, she said, she would return a better player.
"I still haven't reached my limits," Jankovic said. "So this is a good thing."
