Two good friends went head to head for the U. S. Open women’s singles title on Sunday. It was top seeded Serena Williams facing 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki. While Williams was in search of her third straight title, Wozniacki was looking for her first Grand Slam championship. However, on this day, it was all Williams, who won 6-3 6-3.

In the first set, a shaky service game by Wozniacki gave Williams an early break of serve. With nerves appearing in both players, Williams appeared to be heading for a quick consolidation, but the Dane fought back, and the two were on serve again. This began a trend where both players struggled to hold their service games. Five of the first six games resulted in service breaks before Williams established control of hers, taking command of the set.

The American closed out a set where she controlled the majority of points by keeping Wozniacki off balance and on the defensive. Wozniacki was only able to find one winner in the set, while Williams struck 15.

Williams, playing extremely high-quality tennis, broke Wozniacki's serve to start the second set. The 32-year-old resembled the champion who dominated rivals in seasons past. She attacked the Dane's serve and gained control of points, placing the counter-puncher on the defensive. To Wozniacki's credit, she was able to hold three service games in the set despite the American's assault. But it was too much Williams on this day as she ran the Dane back and forth with precision strikes. And in 75 minutes, she won her 18th Grand Slam title.

To underscore Williams’ high-octane assault, Wozniacki was only able to muster four winners in the match, with three of those winners coming off her serve. Her lone groundstroke winner came in the last game of the match. Wozniacki commented afterwards, “When she's on her game, it's not fun to play her. She puts pressure on you straight away.”

It was total domination in New York for Williams, who did not drop one set in the tournament or more than three games in a set. The victory ended a difficult stretch at the Grand Slams that started in Australia this year.

With her title, Williams joins both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who each earned 18 major titles during their illustrious careers. They presented the American with a commemorative bracelet afterwards.

Williams was thrilled to win another title in New York. “It is a pleasure for me to win here. I am really emotional. I couldn't ask to do it at a better place.”

Wozniacki looked for the silver lining in defeat. “I have had a great two weeks here, and I have played really well this summer,” she said. “I feel like I'm on the right path. I have been playing really well, so hopefully I can finish off the year strong and have a good start to next year.”

In her courtside interview, the American had words of inspiration for her friend. “I know you're going to be winning very, very soon, maybe even Australia,” Williams said. “So I got to go home and get fit again so I can be ready for you there.”

The next Grand Slam will be in Melbourne, when the Australian Open begins in January.