Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Serena Williams continued her incredible run
in Miami with still another title.
Williams won the final 10 games in a 6-2, 6-0 romp over Spain’s Carla Suarez
Navarro in Saturday’s final, claiming her eighth Miami Open championship and
third in a row.
The American superstar also won three straight Miami titles from 2002-04 and
again won the tournament in 2007-08 before this latest run. She earned her
66th career title, one shy of Billie Jean King for sixth on the all-time list
in the Open Era.
Suarez Navarro fell to 1-7 all-time in WTA finals, including 0-2 this year.
She reached the Antwerp title match back in February, but was unable to play
because of a neck injury and conceded the title to Andrea Petkovic.
The Spaniard, ranked 12th in the world, entered Saturday’s final 0-4 lifetime
against Williams and kept pace for the first four games before it all fell
apart.
Williams converted her third break chance of the sixth game to grab a 4-2
advantage in the first set, then solidified the break with an easy hold. She
failed to convert two break-point opportunities in the eighth game before a
blistering forehand winner set up another break chance. A Suarez Navarro error
then handed the first set to Williams.
Suarez Navarro picked up a quick break point in the opening game of the second
set, but Williams followed with two aces and a service winner. The American
then broke at love to put to rest any thoughts of a comeback.
Williams continued to steamroll Suarez Navarro from there, finishing the rout
in a mere 56 minutes. She ripped 27 winners to Suarez Navarro’s three and has
never lost a set to the Spaniard.
The talk for Williams will now surround whether she can win a calendar year
Grand Slam. After taking the Australian Open crown to start 2015 for her 19th
career major title, the clay court season is next with the goal a third French
Open championship in early June.
Williams has won each of her last 12 finals and hasn’t lost a match in 17
tries on the WTA Tour this year. A knee issue forced her withdrawal from a
semifinal match against Simona Halep two weeks ago in Indian Wells.
Suarez Navarro, meanwhile, was trying to become the first player in five years
to knock off both Williams sisters in the same event, having beaten Venus in
the quarterfinals. Jelena Jankovic did it last in 2010 in Rome.
