Serena Williams Wins Again; A Step Above Everyone Else

She won singles and doubles at Wimbledon, she singles won at Stanford, then she won two golds at the Olympics, and now she has won singles at the US Open.  It has truly been a spectacular second half of the year for Serena Williams.  She is truly a step above everyone else.

Wimbledon, it seemed, was Serena's last hope.  If she did not find someway to win at Wimbledon, she might not ever win anything again after that devastating loss to Virginie Razzano.  She had some tough matches too, notably against Zheng Jie in the Third Round and Yaroslava Shvedova in the Round of 16, but ultimately she just was too good for the competition.  In the singles Finals, just like at the US Open, Serena dominated the first set before dropping the second and then finding a way in the third.  That time it was to Aga Radwanksa, this time to Victoria Azarenka.  Not to mention shw won the doubles title too.

After winning at Stanford, Serena Williams went to the Olympics.  It seemed at that time Williams peaked.  She was absolutely dominate commonly winning matches 6-0, 6-1, and never really giving the opponent a chance to win.  To sum up just how dominate Williams was, she dropped only one game in beating Maria Sharapova in the Finals.  Although things were not as easy against Azarenka, both matches prove that Williams is the real number one player in the world.  And did I mention she won the doubles gold with her sister Venus Williams too?

She proceeded to lose her only match this summer in the Quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open to Angelique Kerber, a tournament where she looked flat all the way through, much like the second set and much of the third set in the final match of the US Open against Azarenka.  Everyone knew, however, that this loss was merely an abberation.  And boy were they right. 

Up until the Finals of the US Open, Serena Williams had not dropped a set.  Then, she took the first set 6-2 and it looked as if Williams would just skip her way to the championship.  That, however, was not the case.  Serena looked lost and defeated in her second set loss in the Finals against Azarenka.  Like her mind was elsewhere.  We knew, though, that Serena would eventually find her way.  When she came out like she did in the second set in the third, proceeding to go down 5-3, I thought it might be over for her.  Serena found her game just in time.  She won four straight games and finally, after an exhausting apporximately two and a half hours, beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

So, what did we learn about Serena Williams by that final match against Azarenka?  We learned that she has incredible resolve.  Even on the brink of defeat Serena will never ever give in to her opponent.  We also saw that she was a step above everyone else.  Yes, Azarenka challenged her tonight, but when it all comes down to it, Williams still won.  In fact, it certainly seems like Serena Williams wins everything she sets out to win.