Fourth seed Serena Williams beat second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5 in a fantastic final of the US Open to win her ninth Grand Slam title and again become the top-ranked player in the world.
Major finals debutante Jelena Jankovic started off the match very well, breaking Williams to go 2-1 up and immediately earning 40-0 on her own serve. But, Serena broke back for 2-2, and it was just the first instance in the match that Jankovic didn’t score on such a lead. Williams then jumped to a 5-2 lead, having won four consecutive games. No, it was not over yet. Jankovic earned three break points and broke Williams’ serve on the first one to revive her hopes of staying in the set, but the luck was short-lived as Williams quickly attacked Jankovic’s serve again and closed out the set on her second set point.
In the second set, Jankovic fought and managed to hold her serve until 3-3, and then she even broke Williams to go 4-3 up, held her serve for 5-3, plus earned three set points on Serena’s serve in the ninth game. And all that meant nothing. Serena managed to hold her serve and break Jelena in the following game to level at 5-5, and soon after the victory was hers, as Jelena double-faulted to give Williams the second match point which the American didn’t waste.
Jankovic’s serve was functioning fine during the match, she was concentrated and moved well. Williams’ serve was as good as it can be, and she was great at the net. Jankovic had plenty of opportunities, if nothing else then to take the match into a decider, but some double faults at crucial moments combined with Williams’ powerful game prevented her from doing so.
Despite these missed opportunities, Jankovic was a great opponent to the experienced Williams and unlike compatriot Ana Ivanovic, she produced a great fight in her first Grand Slam final and nerves didn’t get the best of her. Actually, the US Open final between Serena and Jelena can probably be named the most entertaining Grand Slam final of the season.
Winning the title, 26-year-old Serena Williams has returned to the No.1 in the rankings (pushing Ana Ivanovic to No.3), which is her 58th career week in the top spot. She was No.1 for 57 consecutive weeks between July 8, 2002 and August 10, 2003; at five years, one month, this is the longest-ever gap between stints at No.1. The 23-year-old Jankovic remains No.2.
