Sport
Serena Williams beats Li Na to lift WTA Championships title
Williams sank to her knees after firing a backhand winner on her second match point. She became the eighth female player to win 11 or more titles a year and the first since Martina Hingis claimed 12 in 1997.
The final featured two players above the age of 30 for the first time in the championships’ 43-year history. Williams is 32 and Li is 31 but both are playing some of their best tennis.
Li got off to a better start over a sluggish-looking Williams, who struggled a day earlier to beat Jelena Jankovic and complained later of being exhausted after a long season.
“I felt good this morning, much better than I did yesterday, but then in practice I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ I was a little worried, but I just hung in there and just kept going and going,” Williams said.
The Chinese was quick to break serve for a 2-1 lead and rolled through the first set, which ended with Williams netting a forehand and hitting a backhand passing shot wide. Williams won a key game at the start of the second set that went to nine deuces and lasted nearly 12 minutes as the American fended off two break points before finally prevailing with a service winner.
Li blasted an ace, her only one of the match, to level at 3-3. But she produced a double-fault and a forehand error to give Williams a chance to serve out the set. Williams needed three set points to close it out. “After a set and a half, I was feeling no more energy left. It’s a tough tournament, because I played five days in a row,” Li said. “Every opponent is in the top eight, so you never have an easy match in this tournament.”
It was another double-fault by Li that gave Williams a break of serve at the start of the third and the American never looked back. Williams did have to save five break points, the last one with her sixth ace, before wrapping up the title.
