Serena Williams... U.S. Open Champion, Number One... AGAIN
Serena Williams beat Serb, Jelena Jankovic, in a tense, hard-fought match to capture the 2008 U.S. Open Women’s Singles title - Serena’s third at Flushing Meadows. With the title, Serena also takes over the Number One ranking that she hasn’t held since 2003 - the longest gap for any player on Tour. Given the injuries, i.e. Maria Sharapova, and retirements, i.e. Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis, this has been a
unique couple years in women’s professional tennis. The careers of Serena and Venus Williams are starting to resemble that of Andre Agassi who had several peaks and valleys in his career. After going “Slamless” for a few years, Venus won Wimbledon in 2007 and 2008 and Serena now owns the 2008 U.S. Open crown to go with her 2007 Australian Open title. With all of the talk about outside distractions, off-court interests, etc. it’s impressive that Serena has worked herself through her own injuries and tough times to reach these heights again. It feels like the start of Serena’s “second career,” and Serena seems inspired to stay atop the mountain. However, there are clearly several other players, e.g. Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic, Venus Williams, etc. who are attempting the ascent to Number One as well. Can’t wait for the 2009 Australian Open!
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