Serena Williams comes out on top against sister Venus for the WTA Championships
Monday, November 02, 2009 -
On Sunday, Serena Williams capped off a physically exhausting week with an emotional two-set victory over her sister Venus, 6-2, 7-6, to win the Sony Ericsson Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Serena looked dominant on serve throughout the whole match and was never broken by her sister. However, Venus picked it up in the second set, playing well on her serve and forcing a tiebreaker. Competition continued to remain fierce in the tiebreaker, with Venus coming back from a 5-1 point-deficit to close the gap to 5-4, where Serena finally closed out the match by taking the final two points.
“Playing Venus in the finals was tough,” Serena said. “Even though she wasn’t feeling good, she was getting every ball back. I can’t tell you how frustrating that is! Playing her is never easy.”
Both competitors sported bandages, and Venus in particular looked tired throughout. All of her matches have gone to three sets in the tournament, including her defeat of Jelena Jankovic to get to the finals. After the match, she did not blame the tournament and her fatigue for her second-place finish.
“It was the end of the season, so I have no complaints,” Venus said about her fitness level. “You have to show up and play no matter what. So that had nothing to do with it.”
This tournament has had a physical toll on all of the athletes. Four players took themselves out of play, including No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki against Serena and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka against Agnieszka Radwanska, who replaced Vera Zvonareva -- who replaced Dinara Safina.
The players’ fatigue could be attributed to the long tennis season that ended with the WTA tournament and playing all the top players in an exhausting, round robin-style play.