Serena Williams defends her title at the Bank of the West Classic – Tennis Special
Former world number one, Serena Williams, successfully defended her title at the Bank of the West Classic, a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event held in Stanford, after displaying top notch performance throughout the tournament.
The American icon entered the tournament in high spirits after conquering her fifth Wimbledon title at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. She maintained her intensity at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford University and after firing powerful
groundstrokes from her box of tricks, Williams stole the show and
The jubilant American was quoted in a post match press conference:
"I think I played well enough to win today. I think I can do a lot better, but there are a lot of positives from today. I was fighting out there. I wanted it. I've never felt this fit, this strong, this happy to play - and I think I can be even better. I
want to sustain this momentum and build on what I did at Wimbledon. I'm going to get back on the grass now for the Olympics - I'm not sure when I'm heading back to London, but I'll do it as soon as I can."
After clicking her 14th Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon Championships last month, Williams stormed into the Stanford hard courts and crushed the local wild card enterer, Nicole Gibbs, with a breadstick.
The 30-year-old carried her winning ways in the final eight and easily bagged the opener against sixth seeded Chanelle Scheepers. In the second set, she went berserk and wiped out all six-games in a row, eventually sealing the deal with a bagel.
In the semi-final clash against the Romanian number one Sorana Cirstea, the American kept her rhythm and quickly carved out the opener with a breadstick. She blocked the lone breakpoint she faced and capitalised on four out of nine break chances to record
a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Currently ranked fourth in the WTA Premier Rankings, Williams cruised into the final where the local lucky loser, Coco Vandeweghe, was waiting for her. She failed to block both breakpoints she came across but broke Vandeweghe, ranked 120th in
the WTA rankings, serve four times to click the tournament.
"Serena's a great player and will take advantage of every opportunity she gets," Vandeweghe commented about the American after her title-round loss.
This was Serena’s seventh successful title defence. She has now won 28 out of her last 29 matches which included a 17-match winning streak on the clay season. Her only loss came in the opening round at the Roland Garros, second of the four Grand Slam events
held in Paris. The American successfully bagged her fourth year-to-date title at this outdoor event.
Williams is now tied with her sister, Venus, with 43 titles for most WTA titles among active players. She is now eyeing gearing up for the 2012 London Olympics and is looking forward to practice on the grass courts.
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