Serena Earns Eighth Title of the Year on Sunday at Rogers Cup

Serena Williams won her third Rogers Cup trophy by defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0. She didn’t lose a set the whole tournament, and her biggest test was against Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals. This is Serena’s eighth title of the year and 54th of her career. Many top players, including Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, missed the tournament because they were sidelined with injuries. Marion Bartoli, Wimbledon champ, lost in the beginning rounds of the tournament, leaving Serena an easy path for a tournament victory.

”No tournament is ever easy, especially being in the position I am in,” Serena said. ”The tournament starts and they expect you to win. And the tournament is like, ‘You’re going to be in the final and after your semifinal I want you to do this, and you have to do this and this press.’ Who knows if I’ll even make it to the semifinals? It’s a lot of pressure. It’s not easy.”

Serena will be in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati this week, and she will also be defending her U.S. Open title at the end of August in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Her only loss since March was an earlier than expected exit at Wimbledon, but Serena always sees room for improvement in her game.

”For me it’s always about constantly improving and never saying ‘I did great and I can be satisfied,”’ Serena said. ”I did great (today), but what can I do better? What can I improve on? That’s what I always strive for. When I get satisfied, and for a lot of players, the (playing) level goes down.”

Cirstea, despite the loss to Serena, had a great tournament. It was only her third tournament final. On the road to the finals, she beat Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, defending champ Petra Kvitova, and Li Na. Serena will go home with about $426,000 for the win, and Cirstea will get $213,000, which is around half of her prize money for the year.

”Usually I’m quite emotional,” Cirstea said. ”Of course, I was disappointed because I wanted to play better, so it’s mixed feelings out there. I think even if I won today I would still be crying.”

Serena loves playing in Toronto, having had two wins there previously in 2001 and 2011. Her celebrity friend Drake came out to watch her play.

”We’re really good friends,” Serena said. ”I was excited that he made it today.”