It has been two weeks of turning back the clock for Serena Williams, and under a closed roof in Saturday’s Australian Open women’s final, she completed her astoundingly quick trip back to dominance against the top-seeded Maria Sharapova.
Under the lights, she was the relentless Williams of yore: crushing returns and first serves, casting ominous glances across the net and showing not the slightest hint of vulnerability as she raced to a 6-1, 6-2 win.
The rout, which required just 1 hour 3 minutes, capped one of the most remarkable comebacks in tennis history, and it came against the young, confident woman who will regain the No. 1 ranking on Monday.
But there could be no doubt about who was No. 1 Saturday, as Williams applied enormous pressure from the start and methodically extracted all the suspense to win her eighth Grand Slam singles title and third Australian Open title.
She also won here in 2003 and 2005, and that victory in 2005 was her last in any tournament until this year’s unexpected run through a brutal draw in Melbourne. Although Williams arrived unseeded and ranked 81st, she eliminated six seeded players in her seven matches.
But Williams, 25, the first unseeded woman to win the Australian since Chris O’Neil in 1978, saved the most prestigious victim for last. When it was over, Williams was jumping up and down with delight, reaching up into the stands to slap hands with her mother and coach, Oracene Price, and eventually dancing in front of her chair. Meanwhile, Sharapova was sitting in hers with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You can never underestimate her as an opponent, and I don’t think many of you expected her to be in the final, but I definitely did,” Sharapova said to the crowd in Rod Laver Arena. “I know what she’s capable of. She showed it today. She’s an amazing champion, and she showed it here many times, and of course I look forward to playing her many more times, and winning a few, I hope.”
Williams soon began to cry herself when she concluded her rambling, merry victory speech on a serious note as she spoke of her slain half-sister, Yetunde Price, who was murdered in September 2003 in Compton, Calif.
“Most of all I would like to dedicate this victory to my sister who is not here,” Williams told the crowd. “Her name is Yetunde, and I just love her so much.”
It was a remarkably focused afternoon for Williams against Sharapova, the 19-year-old who has supplanted her as the sport’s dominant personality and commercial enterprise.
As the vagaries of Melbourne’s weather would have it, Williams has won all three of her Australian titles indoors.
“When I saw the roof was closed, I said, `I’m going to win for sure,”‘ Williams said with a laugh.
There were few hints in recent months that Williams was ready for a breakthrough. She did not play another tournament after the U.S. Open last season, and when she did return this month to play a warmup event in Tasmania, she was beaten in the quarterfinals by a player of limited means: Sybille Bammer of Austria.
Price said the defeat in Tasmania left her daughter in a particularly foul mood. Clearly, Williams still cared, and the matches played there, however uneven, proved useful to her in Melbourne, as she started from a higher platform and made the leap into top form.
“I think I get the greatest satisfaction just of holding up the Grand Slam trophy and proving everyone wrong; I just love that,” Williams said. “I just had so much fun out there today. I just made some great shots. It was just fun.”
Serena will rise to No. 14 in the rankings on Monday, and she intends to play a relatively full schedule at least through Wimbledon after playing only four tournaments last year.
“I’ve been working really hard the last year,” Williams said, “and I haven’t felt my results have been showing, and finally it all came together.”
