Serena Williams Caps off Career Year with Win at WTA Championship

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(October 27, 2013)-It took Serena Williams three sets but after a sluggish start the best player in ladies tennis was able to shake off an energized Li Na for the WTA Championship. Williams won the match and her eleventh title of the year with a score line of 2-6, 6-3 and 6-0 over Na who has risen to third in the world and has played some of her best tennis of late.

For Williams it capped off the best season in her career as she raked in 12.4 million dollars and finished with an incredible 78-4 record. The thirty-two year old won her second French Open title and her fifth U.S. Open this year to bring her Grand Slam victories to a total of seventeen. 

Today however was clearly a battle for Williams who cited fatigue and a rough semi-final against Jelena Jankovic. 

"I don't know how I got through that one," Williams said in an interview after the match. "I've just had a really long year, and I'm just really excited, honestly. I really didn't expect to get through this match today. Wow, thank God. I can't believe I won. I was so tired. Honestly, did I really win? Because she played so well."

After facing a series of life threatening ailments just a few years ago Williams has been able to fend of injuries and played through the past two years without any major health problems. Those missed months perhaps have prolonged a career that doesn't seem to have an end in sight as Williams dominates nearly every player she faces.  Since recapturing the number one ranking earlier in the year Williams has lost to only three other players-Victoria Azarenka, Sabine Lisicki and Sloane Stephens. Azarenka has proven when healthy to be one of the few people that can get the better of Williams on the court. However the two losses to Azarenka were avenged when Williams beat her in the final at the U.S. Open this past summer. 

Williams will now have a few months off before she prepares for the 2014 season and the prospect of passing a few of the elite names in women's tennis if she can add a few more Grand Slam titles to her resume. 2013 will be a tough year to top for the tennis superstar but if she can stay healthy then it will be interesting to see what Williams can add to what is becoming the greatest ladies tennis career of all time.

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