Sport
Serena Williams wins Rogers Cup
An elated Serena Williams with the Rogers Cup. PHOTO/Canadian Press
World no. 1 Serena Williams has won the Rogers Cup for the third time, routing unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0 in Sunday’s final.
Williams captured her eighth WTA title of the year and 54th of her career. All 3 of her Rogers Cup crowns have come in Toronto, the others in 2001 and 2011.
She did not drop a set this week. The only time she was tested was in her semifinal against third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.
Cirstea was appearing in her third WTA final and looking to build on her only title – in 2008 at Tashkent. But despite this loss, the tournament proved a breakthrough. She ousted two former No. 1 players in Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozniacki. She also defeated defending champion Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Li Na in the semis.
Cirstea was unsteady from the opening game, double-faulting the first point and again at 30-40 to give Williams an early break. Williams broke again for 3-0 after Cirstea sent a backhand wide. That prompted a visit from her Australian coach, Darren Cahill.
The pep talk appeared to work momentarily. Cirstea won four straight points to break back and held serve at 3-2. But Williams quickly removed any chance of an upset, winning two straight games and acing a set point winner to make it 6-2.
With shouts of “Sorana” and “Serena” volleying around the stadium, splashes of Romania’s blue, yellow and red could be seen dotting the Rexall Center stands on a warm, sunny afternoon.
