Serena Williams placed an exclamation point in her outstanding 2012 season at the year-end WTA Championships after winning the title for the third time at the expense of rival Maria Sharapova. The American completely held on to all of her serves and tore through the final match with slew of winners to clinch the victory in 89 minutes. The score – 6-4, 6-3.
“I actually thought about the last time we played at the WTA Championships, and she won, and she’s also ranked ahead of me right now, so I really had nothing to lose,” Williams said.
“I feel great right now. This was exactly my dream and I’m so happy I was able to achieve it. And the Turkish fans here are so amazing, so nice, so supportive – I’ve never seen so many signs with my name on them. I can’t even explain how that makes me feel,” she added.
Williams has won 47 of her last 49 matches and has a perfect 5-0 at the WTA Championships in Istanbul. In the round robin stages, she defeated world number one Victoria Azarenka, number five Angelique Kerber and number eight Li Na. She went on to beat number four Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals and number two Maria Sharapova in the final.
Despite the title win, Williams will remain world number three due to her inactivity after the victory at the US Open. The year-end number one is Victoria Azarenka followed by Sharapova.
