Black Tennis Pros

2012 US Open Champion Serena Williams

There's not a lot more to be said about the winner in Serena Williams... she just is.

As both Venus and Serena Williams have done since the beginning, Sunday's 2012 Championship Match was not over, until it was over. Serena competed from the first to the last point. Aside from the fact that she is that caliber of a champion, her opponent, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka is no slouch either.

In what appeared to be yet another match that Serena would breeze through with the greatest of ease after the first set, it turned out to be anything but. After losing the first set 6-2, Azarenka turned her competitive level up a couple of notches and put Serena in the same defensive position that she had just endured. Thus enabling Azarenka to take the second set in the exact reverse 2-6.

The third set was just what it should have been, a battle for the title. A battle that Serena has faced on numerous occasions and come out on top. Here was where experience, confidence and an iron will made all the difference.

After surviving Azarenka serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, Serena switched into another gear and in very short order, an emotional Serena lay supine on the court wrapping her mind around earning a fifteenth Slam title.

Azarenka said that when the match was at 5-4, "There was no other choice for her to do. In the back of my mind, I had that coming ... So that maybe was a little bit of hesitation for me. But I have to say Serena produced some amazing tennis. I feel like I could have done a little bit better, but there was nothing that I did absolutely wrong.”

Serena said, “I was preparing my runners-up speech."

"Nothing is more exciting than winning such a tight match in a Grand Slam final. I wonder if I have had one this tight. I'm not sure.”

“I think I competed really well. I never stopped competing, no matter what, and I think sometimes if you can just go out and compete, then you can continue to do well.”

“My motivation is so up there,” she said. “I'm so motivated to just stay focused. I just feel like I'm ready for the next tournament. I really want to be focused and do well there and just keep the dream alive."

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I should be enjoying this momentous occasion of  the 2012 US Open Women's Final between American Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Instead, during the first set at 4-2 Serena, I am furious at the fact that that CBS, Mary Carillo and John McEnroe found it necessary to open the match with negative video from Serena's career.

It was by far the worst manner in which I have ever personally witnessed a final, or any other match, begin. We who watch and love the sport of tennis are well aware of the positive and negative moments of many of the players careers. But NEVER has a player been beaten over the head so repeatedly with these moments than Serena Williams.

If that was the mode of the day, show negative moments from Azarenka's career, I've witnessed those too. Were they not as salacious, did you dislike her less in her moments than you disliked Serena in hers? Whatever the reason for that one-sided slap in the face that you gave Serena, it should not have occurred.

You absolutely ruined the beginning of this final for a lot of people that sat down to watch two professional women compete for the 2012 US Open title. How incredibly small of you.

MAJOR FAIL, CBS, MARY CARILLO AND JOHN MCENROE... MAJOR FAIL!!!

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Serena Williams, left, pulls New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's jersey out of a box, before putting it back, while making a Super Bowl prediction during a Fed Cup tennis news conference in Worcester, Mass., Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012. Williams, who is part of the Fed Cup team competing against Belarus this weekend in Worcester, decided to pick the New York Giants. At right is US captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

Members of the US Fed Cup team pose with jerseys as they make each make a Super Bowl prediction during a news conference in Worcester, Mass., Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012. From left to right is Christina McHale (New York Giants), Serena Williams (New York Giants), Mary Joe Fernandez (New York Giants) and Liezel Huber (new England Patriots)

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2007 USA Fed Cup Team (l-r) Vania King, Lisa Raymond, Venus Williams, Serena Williams

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams will return from illness and her sister, Serena, will play Fed Cup for the first time in nearly five years after being selected to the U.S. team to meet Belarus in a Feb. 4-5 World Group II match at Worcester, Mass.

U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez announced the team, also containing Christina McHale and Liezel Huber, late Tuesday.

"I am looking forward to having Serena and Venus on the team for the first time since I became U.S. Fed Cup captain," Fernandez said. "They bring so much to this team, not only for what they can do on court, but the influence they will have on Christina and the rest of the team."

It will be Venus Williams' first appearance in a sanctioned competition since the U.S. Open, when she revealed she had Sjogren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Serena Williams, who lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, has not played Fed Cup since 2007.

The 19-year-old McHale, ranked a career-high No. 42, will be making her second consecutive appearance and third overall for the American team. Her highlights last year included a win over No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki at Cincinnati and a run to the third round of the U.S. Open.

South African-born Huber, 35, has won six of her eight career matches for the U.S. Fed Cup team.

The winner of the Worcester match will advance to the World Group playoff and a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title in 2013.

Victoria Azarenka, who is expected to lead the Belarus team, will face defending champion Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday.

"Victoria is playing the best tennis I have seen from her, so we are excited to be facing Belarus in our first match in the United States in two years," Fernandez said.

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World No. 1 American Serena Williams gets major cool points from me for her efforts today.

With a heavily strapped left thigh, injured Serena did not default because of the injury that she appeared to have aggravated while playing sister Venus in the semifinals; she came out, competed as best she could and let the chips fall where they may. They fell in her defeat.

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka did what she should have done, take advantage of the fact that she had the World No. 1 player in a position of limited mobility - it's all in the game.

Azarenka placed shots far beyond Serena's restricted reach and attempted to move her around the rest of the time. That had to be Azarenka's game plan because Serena was definitely in no danger of losing based upon Azarenka's serve. Serena responded where she could, but in a lot of instances she simply allowed the balls to fly by.

Azarenka eventually "won" the match 6-3, 6-1.

Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, Serena Williams, USA

Seeing how badly Serena began to yield to her injured leg on Thursday, I didn't anticipate a vibrant Serena coming out for the final, so I wasn't disappointed. Hopefully she will heal soon.

Photos by Getty Images

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