World number one Serena Williams defeated claycourt specialist Sara Errani in straight sets to reach the final of the Madrid Open tournament for the second straight year. The defending champion will be gunning for her 50th career WTA title. In order to make this possible on Sunday, she will have to defeat her rival – world number two Maria Sharapova. The latter defeated former top-ranked Ana Ivanovic in the other semifinal.
“I guess I’m a little happy,” Williams said. “I feel that I played solid. In the second set more than the first I made less errors, which was something that I really needed to do today.”
Meanwhile, Errani thinks that her chances of winning was slim considering with how she performed at the match.
“I didn’t serve very well,” Errani said. “My first serve percentage was very high, but my second serves weren’t very good, and even my first serves I couldn’t put them where I wanted to because she was putting so much pressure on me with the return. I have to be better in that, but it’s not easy.”
Both Williams and Errani entered the tournament with 25 wins each and with the win, Williams broke free from the tie and now leads the field in 2013 with the most wins at 30. A win on Sunday will elevate the record to 31.
Surprisingly, this will be Williams’ first final on red clay since she won the Roland Garros in 2002.
The Sunday’s final at the Madrid Open between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova is going to be a very interesting one since the world number one ranking is on the line. If Williams loses, Sharapova takes over the top ranking.
“Obviously I love being No.1 – in my heart I feel I’m No.1. But I also love to win tournaments. So I think if I just win as many tournaments as I can, I’ll be No.1. Hopefully.”
