Jan 31 2009
Serena Cruises Past Safina
Serena Williams won fourth Australian Open singles championship by crushing Dinara Safina, 6-3, 6-0. Williams claimed her 10th overall Grand Slam singles title in 59 minutes.
Williams won the first set in 22 minutes. Safina managed to take only two of the last 20 points of the set. Safina, seeded third, improved her play slightly in the second set.
Williams, who will be ranked number one when the standings are updated Monday, was broken to start the second set. However, she broke Safina back. After holding serve in the third game, Williams broke Safina’s serve again to claim a 3-1 advantage that she wouldn’t lose.
After dropping her first five service games, Safina managed to win her last two attempts at serve. However, Williams was much stronger tonight, particularly on her first serve.
Williams dictated most of the points. Safina wasn’t able to force Williams to move around the court. Instead, Williams was able to set and hit. She was simply overpowering.
