williams - SE Members Blog post - syndication express2024-03-29T13:50:36Zhttps://syndicationexpress.ning.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/williamsSerena Williams Wins Her Fifth US Open Title.https://syndicationexpress.ning.com/profiles/blogs/serena-williams-wins-her-fifth-us-open-title2013-09-09T23:16:25.000Z2013-09-09T23:16:25.000ZSandra J Falaganhttps://syndicationexpress.ning.com/members/SandraJFalagan<div><p>Facing her only test of the past two weeks, the No. 1-seeded Serena Williams overcame No. 2 Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 on Sunday for a fifth championship at Flushing Meadows and second in a row with her fifth US<br /> Open Championship.</p><p>Serena Williams is Number One for giving everything she has on the court. She is also Number One among professional female tennis professionals. She hold 17 major titles.</p><p>She believes she can win and believes she deserves to win each time she faces an opponent.</p><p>She has said:</p><p>“Fear will hold U back. Champions fear nothing. Only fear God and give Him glory. Fear no man (woman). Use those legs. God gave them to you for a reason. Put your gifts to work. Take the ball on the rise. Attack the short ball—<br /> it’s waiting for you. Show no emotion. U R black and u can endure anything. Endure. Persevere. Stand tall.”</p><p>Consider what has happened in 2012:</p><p>Williams won the Wimbledon title and Olympic singles and doubles gold medals in a span of five weeks.</p><p>"I've got one number for you," said ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert. "Seventeen. That's all you need to know."</p><p>He's right.</p><p>That was the number of games Williams dropped in six matches in London, a ludicrously low number.</p><p>Serena Williams was unstoppable during the Olympic tournament.</p><p>That's an average of a 6-1, 6-2 victory -- against the best players in the world, motivated by a rare opportunity for an Olympic medal.</p><p>Williams squashed world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka by that average score 6-1, 6-2, then smoked No. 3 and French Open champion Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in a 63-minute final. Sharapova would have been the WTA's top-ranked player had she won.</p><p>"I don't know what that says about her -- or her competitors," Gilbert mused. "To see someone rip through people like that on a surface where it's harder to beat people … she made the last two opponents look like they were nonexistent."</p></div>