Serena Williams defends Madrid Open title, beats Sharapova to retain top ranking

With the world number one ranking on the line, top-ranked Serena Williams was at her best element on Sunday to beat rival and world number two Maria Sharapova to successfully defend the Mutua Madrid Open title with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. This is Williams’ 50th WTA title and she’s just one of the ten female players to have gotten fifty or more singles titles.

“I’ve played her several times; I just tried to focus on what I was doing,” Williams said. “I don’t know if her start was shaky, but I felt I played well in the first few games – playing such a great athlete and great tennis player like Maria, you have to come out and play well. I really had no other choice.

“She definitely started playing better in that second set – I think she came out with a different game plan. I missed a very crucial point in that first game, but after that I just had to refocus.”

Sharapova admitted that she was not reacting well on the game today and the double faults only worsened the situation.

“I started the match really slow today, and against an opponent like her you just can’t give her that because she plays extremely well when she’s confident,” Sharapova said. “I wasn’t reacting well, I wasn’t moving well – obviously not only the double faults that I made, but I also didn’t have a lot of great first serves in. There were a lot of things I could have changed out there on the court.

“I had that break in the second set, but I wasn’t able to go with it and hold it. But starting the match like that isn’t going to get me anywhere, so that’s something I wish I could have changed today,” she added.

The world number one said that she’s looking forward first to the Italian Open which begins this week before setting her sights at the Roland Garros tournament.

“It is the ultimate challenge,” she said. “Whether I reach it, I don’t know. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself. I wanted to do it last year and I didn’t get it. So this year I’m just looking forward to Rome, and then after that Roland Garros. We’ll see.”