Serena Williams (32), the world number one women tennis player, has won her 18th Grand Slam on Sunday, by beating the Denish Caroline Wozniacki (24), 6 - 3, 6 - 3 in the US Open final at the Flushing Meadows, New york.
With this victory, the American has joined the pair of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who also won 18 Grand Slams singles in their careers. This is Serena's 6th US Open title and three consecutive of the tournament.
She has already won 5 Wimbledons, 5 Australia Opens, and 2 French Open titles within 15 years period.
After the match, the euphoric Serena told the media at the press conference, that she was not expecting to win the title this year. She said that she had already told herself, to start preparations for next year and put this behind her.
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| Serena Williams |
''I definitely did not think I was going to win a Slam this year. And I even said, 'I'm ready to start next year already. Let's put this behind me.''
It is quite understable why she was thinking, that she will not be able to win any Grand Slam this year, after the previous disappointments. In the other three Slams, she did not even got to quarter finals, the best she could manage was fourth round.
She said, that she was very grateful to have won a Grand Slam this year and that it felt very good.
''I'm grateful to win a Grand Slam this year. It feels really good,'' the champ told the media.
During the trophy presentation ceremony, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova presented Serena a bracelet, with the number 18 on it, to mark her achievement.
''It means a lot to me. I just could never have imagined, that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet.
''Living in Compton, this never happened before,'' the appreciative winner said.
The American tennis legend, and 4 times US Open champion, John McEnroe said in the CBS TV coverage that, ''It's pretty hard to argue with the fact that if she's playing the way she's capable of playing, she's the greatest female player of all time.
He then added, '' How intimidating she is, with the power she's got everything.''
Williams prize money was the largest, any tennis player has ever received in any tournament (man or woman). Her prize money was $4m, of which $3m was for winning the US Open, while the $1m was bonus for topping the US Open Series, based on the results of the build-up events.
Caroline Wozniacki, who is a good friend of Serena received approximately $1.5m preize money. Afterwards Caroline said about Serena and her game.
''I think when Serena's on her game, there's not much we can do.'' She works hard every day, just like us, but when she needs to she can pull out that big serve. She has the power. She can push us back on the court and take the initiative.''
Both friends planned to go out in the Big Apple later in the night to celebrate. Read also:
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