It was the final that most people predicted.  It was the final that most wanted to see:  world No. 1 Serena Williams versus world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka for the 2013 US Open crown.  Twelve months after they first battled for this prestigious title, here they were again, prepared to fight to the bitter end in the ongoing struggle for supremacy of the WTA.

Williams has primarily been the dominant figure of the WTA in 2013.  Coming into this final, she had already earned eight titles this season, including Miami, Charleston, Madrid, Rome, Toronto, and her 16th major at Roland Garros.  She has a healthy lead in both the rankings and the race to the year-end championships, but that meant nothing on this Sunday.  Anything short of defending her US Open crown would be a disappointment and would raise some questions as to which woman was truly the WTA’s leader of the pack.

A win over Williams in the US Open final would certainly make a strong case for that moniker to belong to Azarenka.  That is because Azarenka is no pretender to the throne.  Like Williams, she also had won a major this season, having successfully defended her title at the Australian Open.  Injuries have hampered her ability to compete consistently this year, but she did pick up two of the bigger titles in Doha and Cincinnati.  Those two lone WTA titles meant more to Azarenka than just adding to her own personal legacy, however.  They were both wins that came courtesy of a victory over Williams in the final.

Azarenka’s wins over Williams in the Doha and Cincinnati finals have played a large part in making the Williams/Azarenka rivalry one of the most compelling in the sport, even though Williams held an overwhelming advantage of 12-3 in their head-to-head record prior to today’s final.  Over the last two years, Azarenka has increasingly shown that she has both the game and more importantly the belief, to defeat Williams.  Both have been paying dividends for the Belarusian lately.  Prior to this US Open final, the two had met already three times in 2013, and as noted, it was Azarenka who had won two out of the three with her victories in Doha and Cincinnati, while Williams picked up a win in Rome.  With that kind of recent history, this US Open final always had the potential to be a blockbuster, and it ultimately lived up to the hype.   

As the first set got underway, it was evident that the wind was going to be a third competitor in this match.  Both players struggled with it in their opening service games and traded breaks as a result.  From there on both continued to hold, but it looked like Azarenka had the slight edge.  She was the one who appeared to be the steadier of the two and had done a quicker job of adjusting to the gusty conditions.  But Williams is not the most decorated active player for nothing.  After finding a way to squeak out a hold to level things at 5-5, she found another gear.  She began to rattle off winners to offset her 15 unforced errors, breaking Azarenka and then holding comfortably to pocket the first set.

As beneficial as that first set was to Williams, there was initially no reason to believe that it would deflate Azarenka.  In Cincinnati, she had been blown off the court in the opening set but come back for the victory.  As the second set progressed, however, it did not look like that would be the case today.  Williams broke her opponent early and quickly held to consolidate the break for a 2-0 lead. Shortly thereafter, Williams escaped two break points to protect that crucial break.  The Houdini act seemed to demoralize Azarenka.  In the following game she threw in her first double faults of the match – three of them – to hand Williams a second break.  But once again, Azarenka showed her admirable fighting spirit.  She broke Williams to get to 2-4 and earned a hard-fought hold to move within 3-4.  To her credit, Azarenka forced Serena to serve for the championship at 5-4, and that was when things turned interesting. 

Azarenka played solid tennis while the world No. 1 choked.  As a result, the Belarussian ultimately broke Williams to level things at 5-5.  But Serena refused to allow the disappointment of failing to seal the deal deter her.  She went right back to work and capitalized on Azarenka’s poor serving to earn a second opportunity to serve for the match.  But the drama only built from there as Williams double-faulted on break point in the next game to see the set extended to a tiebreak.

The tiebreak was very reminiscent of their final in Cincinnati, where Williams also served for the match only to end up losing it in a tiebreak.  Unfortunately for her, history repeated itself.  Azarenka held her nerve and overcame a vast deficit in winners to edge the tiebreak 8-6 and extend the match to a deciding third set.

When the third set began, it looked like Williams was still ruing the lost opportunities from the previous set.  She quickly found herself in a 0-30 hole before righting the ship to take a 1-0 lead.  Securing that early hold seemed to settle her, and soon she was in the ascendancy.  She broke Azarenka in the fourth game of the set – helped by two double faults from her opponent – and made no mistake on her own serve to take a commanding 4-1 lead.  And this time there would be no relinquishing this lead.  Azarenka was never able to raise her level while Williams refused to let her own form dip.  She broke Azarenka for 5-1 and this time, as she had hoped to do 45 minutes earlier, she successfully served out the match to claim her fifth US Open Singles Championship.

There was so much to relish in this final from both players.  Azarenka should have earned herself some fans out there today.  She proved that she belongs right up there with the best of the sport’s competitors.  Few would have had the gumption to come back from a set and a double break down in these circumstances against this opponent, and yet Azarenka bounced back time and time again to push it to the distance.  She displayed an ever-improving all-around game that is sure to win her more big titles in the future.  If there is one shot she needs to work on, it is the serve.  That shot was the difference maker in today’s match.  If she can get that clicking, there is no reason why she cannot be on par with Williams, for it was evident from the phenomenal effort she put forth today that she has all of the rest of the pieces in place.

As for Williams, there is little else that can be said about what all she has accomplished and continue to do.  One only can tip one’s hat to the woman who is now a 17-time major singles champion.  Not many players would have regrouped so quickly after the disappointment she suffered at the end of that second set, but that is what has made her so great through the years.  With her second major of the year, she is the definitive WTA player of the year.