Things went with serve until 3-2 in the first set, but from then on everything was about Serena Williams, who dominated Carla Suarez Navarro en route to her eighth Miami champion’s trophy (third straight!) and a 21-match winning streak, the equal-third-best of her career (her record streak includes 34 match wins).
So, we had not surprise here, Serena is now 5-0 in head-to-head record against Suarez Navarro and all those victories came in straight sets. Today’s score: 6-2 6-0. Did you know that Serena is 65-0 when winning the first set in Miami?! Q-U-E-E-N!
Despite the loss in the final, Suarez Navarro has a lot to be happy about, especially the fact that on Monday the Spaniard will make her debut in the WTA Top 10, becoming just the third women’s tennis player from her country to achieve the feat.
Serena’s winning Nike kit: the orange version of the Spring Slam Tunic. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Yes, Queen Serena reigns once again! She played beautifully in the final, shaking off her 2nd set nerves from the semi (that one was so hard to watch). Carla played well against every other opponent except Serena; she was simply no match for the Queen. The commentators on the Tennis Channel were very fair and showed such excitement throughout the match, unlike the biased ESPN (shame on you, Mary Joe!) commentators, who seemed partial to Halep, hoping and wishing she’d won the semi against Serena. Listening to Marion Bartoli’s comments (French, by the way) about how spectacular Serena was playing made me smile. I really enjoyed how she didn’t hold back on expressing her excitement when Serena was making multiple amazing shots and serving up those lovely aces. She and Kevin gave so many facts about Serena’s accomplishments as a tennis player and spoke of how she’s won in Miami more times than any current male or female tennis player. Kudos to the both of them! Hey, Marion, I think you’re wonderful, not because of what you said, but because I got a glimpse of your true personality off the court; your voice is just too cute! Please commentate on a regular basis. You and Kevin made watching the final very enjoyable, unlike Mary Joe and the others on ESPN. I often hit mute on my remote when they repeatedly criticize Serena and emphasize her errors. Jealous perhaps????
Congrats to Carla! She and Halep are improving greatly and will continue to advance in the rankings. I predict Halep will soon be ranked #2. I honestly thought she’d surpassed Sharapova by now. She’s a much better mover than Maria, and an overall better player (IMO).
How much do I love Bartoli’s commentary! I hope she becomes a regular on tennis Channel and ESPN.
Well I hope Mary Jo didn’t criticize Serena too much.
Fernandez is the captain of the American Fedex Cup team, and Serena and Venus will be on that team when they hopefully defeat the Italians here shortly!