Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 on Sunday to win her fifth title at the US Open and her 17th grand slam trophy overall.
The world number one beat the number two in two and three-quarter hours, the longest women’s final since time records began in 1980.
Azarenka mounted a fight back in the second set trailing a break and 4-1. She took the set into a tie-break, which she won on her third set point to take the contest into a deciding set.
But Williams regrouped to take the victory on a second match point, becoming the first woman to defend a New York title since Kim Clijsters in 2009-10.
The victory was a repeat of last year’s success over Azarenka in the final.
“There’s always pressure to defend your title,” said Williams. “I didn’t feel a lot of pressure, but I knew I wanted to win.
“Losing a match (to Azarenka) before I got to the Open actually took a little bit of the pressure that was on me off of me, so it made it a little better.” The 31-year-old had lost two of her three previous matches against Azarenka, including the Cincinnati final in August where she lost after leading the third set.
Two of her four losses this season have come courtesy of the Belarussian.
“I obviously would have preferred to close it out in straight sets. But going against a great opponent like Victoria, you have to be able to realise that that can happen. You have to keep fighting for everything.
“I think I played pretty solid in the tournament. Today wasn’t probably my best tennis of the tournament, but it was a lot of things going on against a good player,” she said.
“But it was good just to get through.” The losing finalist buried her face in her towel in the immediate aftermath, but regained composure after losing a bid for her second grand slam trophy of the season after winning in Australia in January.
“I wish I could do something better today,” said Azarenka. “But, I mean, it’s okay. It goes that way. I did everything I could. There are things that could have been better.
“But I gave my heart, I fought as hard as I could. That’s what’s important for me. I lost to a great champion, but I still gonna hold my head up.” Williams now stands 13-3 against Azarenka and climbed to within one grand slam title of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. The match was the first at the Open between the world’s top two players in a decade.
Williams came into the final having not dropped a set in six matches and having won four previous titles at the majors with an unblemished record.
The American dominated the opening set as she won it on two breaks of serve in 58 minutes. But Azarenka engineered a fight-back from the depths of 4-1 down in the second set after losing serve in the fifth game on three double-faults.
The second seed twice denied Williams victory when the American was serving to close it out, breaking Williams in the 10th game for 5-all and again in the 12th on a double-faults after losing her own serve in the 11th.
Azarenka excelled in the tie-break, levelling the sets at one each on a third set point. Williams regained her edge in the third with two more breaks on her way to a 67th win this season and a 72nd at the tournament.