A picture is worth one thousand words.
From the first point, it seemed like that was where the trophy was, tight in Williams' grasp. Safina, and we doubt anyone else, could have prised it away from her. It took just 59 minutes for the match to go from start to finish, and Williams pounded 23 winners from all around the court, whilst committing just seven unforced errors. Safina's statistics were a different story, hitting 21 errors to 14 winners, and winning just 30% of the points on her second serve. It was clearly a painful experience for a tearful Safina, who managed to regroup for the trophy ceremony. One felt that Serena's comment about this match being a great advertisement for womens tennis in her speech, could have been a low attempt at a joke.
We have to admit, we are now converts to the Serena crowd. After never really being sure about her since after her surgery over six years ago, this is the first time she has conjoined two Grand Slam titles since the 2002-2003 transition when she won the same US-Australian Open combination, completing the 'Serena Slam'. She truly looked every bit the world number one out there. Serena's performance also highlighted what is wrong with Safina's game. Williams' serve is fluid and so natural, whereas Safina's serve is mechanical and fragmented, explaining her capacity to commit so many double faults. Sam Smith's commentary is often hit and miss, but today she was so correct. Serena, unlike almost everyone else in womens tennis, doesn't freeze when playing Grand Slam finals, she relishes them and plays her best tennis, and that her opponent must either have fantastic speed around the court to get all the balls back, or to have an excellent serve which they can use to full effect. None of these Safina has. Serena is now looking to win two Grand Slam titles in a year for the first time since 2003, and on today's display, you can't doubt her.
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