Serena won her third consecutive U.S. Open championship and sixth overall to go along with winning her 18th Grand Slam championship.
On her path to the championship, “Sister Slam” eliminated all of her opponents without dropping one single set. In her opening match, Taylor Townsend of Chicago, 14 years her junior, went down 6-3, 6-1, followed by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 6-3, 6-3, and a cast of challengers seeking to gain fame by beating Williams, including Flavia Pennitta (6-3, 6-2) and Ekaterina Makarova (6-1, 6-3).
Finally, Williams, after beating everyone on her path, reached the championship women’s singles finals. There awaiting her was Caroline Wozniacki, perhaps her best friend on the tour, who ranked No. 10 in the world. Best friend Williams then took her down in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, for the 2014 U.S. Open womens singles championship win.
Williams tied Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slam singles titles. After receiving her $4 million check, $3 million for winning the final and $1million for winning the Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series in the run-up to the open during the awards ceremony, Evert and Navratilova presented her with an 18-karat gold Tiffany bracelet.
In her on-court interview, Wozniacki congratulated Williams by saying that she was a great friend, an inspiration to her on and off the court, then she joked about Williams buying drinks later. “I never dreamed that I could be compared to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova … I was just a kid with a dream and a racket living in Compton,” Williams said in her press conference after the match.
When Wozniacki was asked if she thought whether Williams was beatable when she was on her game, she replied, “Well, when she’s on her game, it’s not fun to play her. You know, she’s so strong.
“She has a good serve and she puts pressure on you straightaway. Today, I went out there, and I was a little nervous. I had a game plan in mind, but it was kind of difficult at the start. I tried to push her back, but that really didn’t work for me. She just stepped in and she was playing aggressive, she was playing better than me today.”
Williams was asked what she was going to do with the money, she replied, “Well, I have this uncle named Sam. He will be getting a portion of it.”
By the way, Williams kept her promise to buy drinks for Wozniacki. Hours after the match and she had completed all of her media obligations, Williams and Wozniacki celebrated in New York with Joe Jonas. Wozniacki is the only opponent Williams has celebrated with after a winning match other than her sister Venus.
