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Column: Serena Williams wins U.S. Open for 18th Grand Slam title

Serena Williams hugs the U.S. Open championship trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday to win her 18th career Grand Slam.
(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)
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It wasn’t scintillating tennis. But for Serena Williams, the result certainly was. So was the payday.

When she beat Caroline Wozniacki here Sunday, 6-3, 6-3, she not only had her third straight U.S. Open title, but her 18th Grand Slam tournament victory.

She also earned $4 million, with $3 million of that the first-prize money for winning the tournament and the rest for having the most points in the lead-up U.S. Open series.

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When Wozniacki’s last shot went long, Williams — on the side of the court nearest her box of friends and supporters — collapsed on her back right below them in a sort of a dramatic exclamation point.

She joked later that, when she was down on her back, it occurred to her that maybe she had the score wrong and she was celebrating prematurely.

She was not, and when she stayed down for a while and then clenched her fists and screamed on and off for several minutes, it was not only timely, but was a long time coming.

Although she has won Grand Slam tournaments over a span of 15 different years — in a career that started when she was 17 and in which she remains the leading force even as she is about to turn 33 — she had been a major disappointment in the majors this year.

She went out in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open to Ana Ivanovic, in the second round at the French to Garbine Muguruza and in the third round at Wimbledon to Alize Cornet.

Williams came here sort of talking out of both sides of her mouth, hedging her bets. She said she believed in herself and was playing well. But in the same news conference after an earlier match, she said she was surprised she was still around.

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She played Sunday’s match with a stone face, stern and focused. But when she won, and the emotional floodgates opened, lots of joy poured out.

In retrospect, this tournament wasn’t just a Grand Slam for Williams, but a slam dunk.

Wozniacki, playing in only her second major final (U.S. Open ‘09) and doing so while lacking the kinds of weapons needed to beat Williams, spoke to the reality afterward.

“When she’s on her game, she’s not fun to play,” the former No. 1 from Denmark said. “You have to have a good start. If not, you’re kind of done.”

The first six games included five service breaks. Nerves were obvious. So was the eventual outcome. Williams was missing a bit, but cranking on her shots, running well, getting dialed in. Once that came together, Wozniacki was a dead Dane, and she knew it.

“When Serena is on her game,” she said, “there’s not much we can do.”

By “we,” she clearly meant the rest of the tour. And she was accurate. If Williams is playing to her capabilities — power off the ground and serves around 110-115 mph — all the matches are on her racket, and all her opponents are puppets on a string.

Wozniacki ran hard and fought hard and didn’t hit a winner off the ground until 3-5 of the second set, a cross-court backhand, three points before she lost. She had four winners in the match, three of them aces. Williams had 29 winners, seven of them aces.

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Williams went through the tournament without losing a set. She never lost more than three games in any set. When she began the final, she had spent a total of 6 hours 34 minutes on court. Wozniacki had been out there 10 hours 2 minutes. Sunday’s final took 1 hour 15 minutes, or about $5 a minute for those sitting in the good seats.

In the awards ceremony after the match, Williams was presented with her trophy, her checks and a surprise. Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova presented her with a gold bracelet, 18 karats, to represent her joining their club as 18 Grand Slam winners. That trio now shares fourth place all time, behind Margaret Court’s 24, Steffi Graf’s 22 and Helen Wills Moody’s 19.

“If I never win another title,” Williams said, “I’ll always have my little 18 bracelet.”

She said the presentation meant a great deal to her because she had looked up to both players.

“I was a kid, with a dream and a racket, living in Compton,” she said.

In those days, she certainly wasn’t thinking about that dream and that racket taking her to a $4-million payday. Sunday, she had a sense of humor about it, as one might with $4 million in his pocket.

Asked what she would do with it, she said, “I’ve got this favorite uncle. I love him a lot. My Uncle Sam. I think I’m going to give a lot of it to him.”

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