ROME: Serena Williams ended a nine-month title drought with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Madison Keys in an all-American Italian Open final Sunday.
Williams’ previous title came in Cincinnati in August — a month before her attempt at a calendar-year Grand Slam ended with a semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci at the US Open.
“It feels great,” Williams said, pointing out that she’s only played four tournaments since Cincinnati. “So it’s not like I was playing every week. So that’s kind of how I look at it. But it feels great to win a title, especially on clay.”
It’s Williams’ fourth title in Rome and it comes exactly a week before the French Open begins.
“I’m feeling pretty fit. So I’m looking forward to it,” said Williams, who will be attempting to defend her title at Roland Garros, but won’t have to answer any questions about a potential calendar-year Grand Slam this year. “I’m going to definitely go in there and feel more calm and (not) feel stress to have to win.”
Williams addressed the crowd in Italian during the post-match ceremony then took a selfie as she posed with the trophy.
It was the first time two American women have met in a final on clay since Serena beat older sister Venus in the 2002 French Open.
When they met at the net after the match, Serena told the 24th-ranked Keys that she can be No. 1 one day.
“Too bad what she says doesn’t just happen,” the 21-year-old Keys said. “But it’s always great to hear that from her. ... Hearing that is definitely something that makes me just work harder.”
The last all-American final in Rome was in 1970, when Billie Jean King beat Julie Heldman.
In the men’s tournament, top-ranked Novak Djokovic was facing Andy Murray in a rematch of last week’s Madrid Open final.
In the Rome record book, Serena drew level with Conchita Martinez and Gabriela Sabatini, who also took four titles at the Foro Italico. Chris Evert holds the women’s record with five titles while Rafael Nadal holds the overall mark with seven.
It was the 70th title overall in Serena’s career.
Keys was playing in the biggest final of her career. She posted personal best results at all four majors last year, including reaching the Australian Open semifinals and the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Keys broke Serena at love in the opening game of the match and hit six aces in her opening two service games to take a 3-1 lead.
As Serena became more aggressive, however, Keys hit two double faults to hand the break back, making it 3-3.
In the tiebreak, Serena took control with a wicked cross-court forehand that Keys couldn’t get back then closed it out on her first set point with a big serve out wide that Keys returned long.
After taking the first set, Serena pumped her fists and yelled to herself, ‘Come on!’“
In the second set, Serena’s only real trouble came when she was broken while serving for the match at 5-2. But she quickly ended it the next game, concluding the tournament without dropping a set.
Serena hit only 13 winners to Keys’ 17 but had fewer unforced errors — 24-32 — and converted five of her six break-point opportunities.
Serena improved to 16-0 against Americans since losing to Venus in the Montreal semifinals in 2014. Her last loss to an American in a final came against Venus at Wimbledon in 2008.
Serena ends 9-month title drought at Italian Open
Serena ends 9-month title drought at Italian Open
NEOM concede at the death for the second week in a row as Al-Taawoun salvage late draw
- NEOM narrowly lost to Al-Nassr 1-0 last weekend after Mohamed Simakan scored an injury-time winner
- Al-Taawoun followed up with a late equalizer by Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi to deny them three points
RIYADH: The Saudi Pro League returned for Matchday 26, with the table beginning to take its final shape as the season enters its final quarter. The title contenders kick off on Friday and Saturday, but Thursday’s action focused on a clash between upper mid-table sides NEOM and Al-Taawoun, alongside three relegation-battlers — Al-Najma, Damac and Al-Kholood — attempting to improve their standings.
In Tabuk, NEOM played out a 2-2 draw with Al-Taawoun, this season’s surprise package under the returning Pericles Chamusca. After a brilliant start to the campaign that saw them spend much of the season in the top four, a poor run of just one win in their last eight games has followed.
Al-Taawoun’s late equaliser was vital in their bid to maintain a spot in the top five. With Al-Ittihad lurking just three points behind and yet to play this weekend, every point matters for the Wolves of Qassim. Regardless, it has become a painful second half of the season for Chamusca’s side, as they now sit 12 points behind the top four.
After a heroic performance from Luis Maximiano against Al-Nassr last weekend, NEOM were unfortunate to leave Riyadh empty-handed after conceding at the death. There were still plenty of positives from the defeat, as Christophe Galtier’s squad appear to have finally hit second gear this season.
Calm and collected against Al-Nassr, they repeated the same approach against Al-Taawoun. Knowing their opponents thrive on space in the transition, NEOM prevented them from accessing wingers Marin Petkov and Biel, leaving star striker Roger Martinez isolated for most of the match.
Amadou Koné and Abdoulaye Doucouré did their part to disrupt the centre of Al-Taawoun’s block, with the former driving forward and the latter drifting in between the lines to create the opener. In the 23rd minute, Al-Taawoun’s defence were pulled apart as Luciano Rodríguez met Doucouré’s precise through ball to slot home.
NEOM maintained their composure throughout the match, but it took a wonder strike from Martinez to bring the visitors level in the 70th minute, the Colombian producing a superb strike from distance.
It only took six minutes for NEOM to respond. Saïd Benrahma broke down the Al-Taawoun defence once again, releasing Alexandre Lacazette for a powerful finish to restore the hosts’ lead.
Despite the strong performance from NEOM, they ultimately fell victim to another late setback. Substitute Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi surged down the flank in stoppage time before cutting inside and curling a precise finesse shot beyond Maximiano to salvage a point.
Elsewhere, Damac continued their resurgence under Fabio Carrille with a 3-1 victory over Al-Najma, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table. The win moves Damac six points clear of Al-Riyadh in the relegation zone, while Al-Najma sit 14 points from safety with eight matches remaining.
Meanwhile, Al-Hazem secured a late victory after Abdulaziz Al-Dwehe netted an 86th-minute winner in a 2-1 triumph over Al-Kholood. It was a frustrating night for the Saudi Pro League’s all-time leading scorer Omar Al-Somah, who missed a penalty for the winners in the 60th minute.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Fayha hosting Al-Ettifaq and Al-Riyadh welcoming Al-Ittihad at 10:00pm. The headline fixture of the evening — kicking off at the same time — sees second-placed Al-Ahli travel to face fourth-placed Al-Qadsiah. Victory for Al-Ahli against tough opposition would strengthen their title push, while defeat for Al-Qadsiah could effectively end their unlikely championship hopes.
