Serena Williams won her seventh Miami title after
clinching a 7-5 6-1 victory over Li Na in the final of the Sony Open Tennis.
In a battle between the top two players in the world,
Williams battled past the Australian Open champion in just under two hours at
Crandon Park.
With the victory Williams, who lives an hour's drive from
the tournament venue, improved her head-to-head record against world No 2 Li to
11-1.
Williams had to recover from a slow start, however, the
American going 4-2 down to her Chinese opponent in the opening set.
During the seventh game Williams saved three break points
but still went a double-break behind after surrendering her serve on a double
fault.
But the 17-time grand slam champion finally sparked into
life and reeled off five games in a row to win the first set.
Break
She did have to save a set point in the 10th game and
went to deuce six times before finally breaking Li's serve in the final game of
the set.
Williams' serve improved as the match wore on and in the
second set she was offering precious few opportunities to the second seed.
The defending champion raced into a 5-1 lead thanks to
two breaks of serve and wrapped up the contest by taking her fifth match point.
"It was a really important victory, especially playing
Li Na, who has been playing so well," Williams told the WTA's official
website.
"She started out so well - I was like, 'oh my gosh,
I just need to hang in here'. Then I heard some fans trying to pull me through
- if it hadn't been for you guys I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Li added: "I have to say well done to Serena - you
had a very good two weeks here. Keeping healthy is the most important thing for
me, and just trying to do the best I can.
"Of course I want to thank my team as well."
Culled from Skysports
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