By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, April 4, 2015
A commanding Serena Williams won 10 straight games closing a 6-2, 6-0 conquest of Carla Suarez Navarro to capture her eighth career Miami championship.
Photo credit: @MiamiOpen
Improvisational skills helped Serena Williams reach the Miami final.
The world No. 1 reverted right back to the imposing role she plays best in scripting another commanding championship performance.
A fierce and focused Williams reeled off 10 consecutive games demolishing skittish first-time finalist Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-2, 6-0 to capture her record-extending eighth Miami Open championship.
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"It feels really good to have eight under my belt," Williams said in her post-match press conference. "Can't say I thought I would win eight, especially in the beginning of the week. It just feels really weird. Definitely feels good. I'm happy to be able to get through it."
It was Williams' 21st consecutive victory and her 12th straight final triumph.
"The key was to stay focused, not let her play her game," Williams told ESPN's Brad Gilbert immediately after the match. "I just had to take pace off [my serve] because I've been hitting hard and been in the low 40s [percentage] the last couple weeks. I was like listen I'm gonna take pace off and I think that was a better option for me until I could get my serve back."
The 33-year-old Williams collected her 66th career title while solidifying her status as Queen of the Keys. Serena joins Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who was on hand for the trophy presentation, as just the fourth woman to win the same WTA title at least eight times.
It was her most impressive match of the tournament.
The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida resident regards Crandon Park as her home court. Williams spent the 56-minute final displacing her opponent before showing her the door to three-peat as champion.
Spending her off-day on the practice court searching for her serve that had strayed in two prior three-set wins, Williams took some pace off her serve and stretched the shorter Spaniard right off the court. Whipping the slice serve out wide to spread the court, Williams whipped seven aces and won 21 of 22 points played on her first serve.
Serving for placement rather than power, Williams creates sharp angles short in the box.
"I had to improvise in some of my matches," Williams said. "Quite frankly, I had to take some pace off today because I wasn't serving the way I normally serve. I normally serve tons of aces really hard. This tournament I wasn't serving my best.
"On the flip side, it's good to know that I can win relying on my groundstrokes or relying on other shots. It's not just one shot that makes me good. It's an all-court game."
Playing her first career Premier-level final, Suarez Navarro was understandably jittery against an overwhelming opponent who had permitted her just 10 games in their four prior meetings. She double faulted twice and jerked an easy forehand sitter wide, but overcame the nerves to hold in her first service game.
"When I play with Serena I know that she's the best," Suarez Navarro said. "She has the game to make me play bad. But this time I believe in me, in how I'm playing the other match. I try. I try until the last point, but was tough and was difficult for me."
Pushed to three sets in her two prior matches, Williams was eager to take charge early in rallies. She won eight of the first nine points played on her serve for a 2-1 lead.
The five-foot-4 Spaniard prefers a return position four feet behind the baseline. Williams exploited her opponent's limited reach on return, banging successive aces down the middle to hold at 30 for 3-2.
Tomorrow, Suarez Navarro will crack the Top 10 for the first time becoming the first woman with a one-handed backhand to attain the Top 10 since Francesca Schiavone in June, 2010.
It's an exquisite and versatile shot, but Suarez Navarro tends to play it predictably crosscourt. The one-hander failed the Spaniard midway through the opening set as Williams tested that wing with heavy topspin. Dumping three backhand errors, Suarez Navarro donated the first service break for 2-4. Williams consolidated at 15 then immediately went right back to work battering away at the 12th seed's defenses.
"Because Serena plays with a lot of spin to my backhand and the ball is going like up to my backhand [it's difficult]," Suarez Navarro said. "I need more power. It's difficult. So that's why I need to slice almost."
Court positioning and conviction were two keys for the top seed. She spent much of the set stepping inside the baseline taking the ball on the rise and began ripping shots with more authority after the initial break. Crunching a forehand crosscourt for a third set point, Williams broke to seal the set when Suarez Navarro scattered another backhand beyond the baseline.
The lone moment of pressure on the champion's serve came on break point in the opening game of the second set. Chair umpire Marija Cicak had barely finished announcing the words "Advantage, Suarez Navarro" when Williams slid an ace wide to erase it. Bending another slice ace followed by a serve winner she held for 1-0.
That was the first and last time Suarez Navarro troubled the top seed's serve. Williams threw down a pair of consecutive love holds then crunched a crosscourt forehand winner and thrust her arms in the air completing a 56-minute thrashing.
The world No. 1 produced a near shutout in the second set winning 13 of 16 points played on her serve and ravaging her rattled opponent's serve. Williams won 12 of 14 points played on the Suarez Navarro serve and never looked stressed stamping her authority on her home tournament.