Tennis: I wanted it bad, says Serena

American pleased after beating Sharapova at WTA Championships final.

ISTANBUL: Serena Williams said she put herself under pressure after completing a sensational 2012 comeback by easing to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Maria Sharapova for a third WTA Championships title.

The 31-year-old’s victory came at the end of a spectacular year in which she also collected the Wimbledon, Olympic and US Open titles.

“Now I have won I can be honest — I really wanted to win this title, and I put pressure on myself,” said Williams. “I wanted it so bad, I didn’t want to say it. I had such a good year, it was important to me to win.

“Sharapova played really well and she’s improved so much, which is amazing for a player of her stature and calibre. But I played solid, and in the last game of the match I played really well.”

French Open champion Sharapova praised Williams, a player she has been unable to beat for over eight years.

“She had another great serving day against me — I don’t think I even had a break point,” said Sharapova.

“Maybe it was partly me not doing enough on the returns and partly she was serving well – a few moments when it was 30-all or 15-all, I didn’t get a good return in.

“But that’s one of the reasons she’s such a great champion and has had a tremendous amount of success in her career.”

The third-seeded Williams’s weight of shot, reliability of serve, and undiminished motivation enabled her to apply constant pressure.

As early as the fifth game, when she broke Sharapova’s serve for the first time, she looked the likely winner.

Williams also saved her best performance of the week for Sharapova and history may have played a part in that.

Since the year in which a 17-year-old Sharapova shocked Serena in the 2004 Wimbledon final, the Russian has not been able to repeat the win in eight attempts. After breaking for 3-2, consolidating for 4-2, and holding on to that advantage to close out the first set, she was relentless.

She clung to her service games to reach 3-4 despite two break points against her in that game, varied her angles well, and covered the court better than she ever did, but the rewards were modest.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2012.