Serena Storms Back to Win Bank of the West Classic
Serena Williams stormed back on Sunday to capture the Bank of the West Classic championship in Stanford, Calif., defeating Angelique Kerber 7-6(1), 6-3 to win her fourth title of the year. The top-ranked Serena, playing in her first tournament since retiring in the middle of her doubles match at Wimbledon, trailed 1-5 in the first set before gathering herself and taking control of the match.
“I blinked my eye and I was down 1-5,” said Serena. “Angelique was playing well and I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ I tried to relax, not think about anything and just do the right thing.”
She did just that, and broke a huge serve down 2-5 to hold off Kerber. Serena rattled off five straight games to jump ahead 6-5 before Kerber saved a set point of her own to send the opening frame into a tie-breaker.
The breaker belonged to Serena the whole way as she took the first five points and eventually the set. She struggled in the opening set of each match in Stanford, but looked like her dominant self when she was able to get her legs underneath her.
“It’s a good thing that it happened,” said Williams. “When I’m not playing great I know I can make some kind of comeback.”
Williams has won the title in Stanford three of the last four years and extends her winning streak to 13 matches. She has also beaten Kerber in five of the six total meetings between the two.
“I gave everything I could out there,” said Kerber. “When she was down she started hitting the ball better. It’s a special thing she has. On the important points, she goes for it.”
This week will be the 200th consecutive at number one in the rankings for the younger Williams’ sister, who will take her play up to Montreal this week for the Rogers Cup where both she and Kerber will receive byes into the second-round.
