Serena makes it fifty it Madrid

Serena Williams won her 50th career title in Madrid, beating Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4.

It was only her seventh clay court title in her 17 years on the tour. And her first red clay title since 2002 when she won the French Open.

The stars were certainly lined up for Serena, Madrid being the perfect place for her to accomplish a long-awaited red clay title. The blue clay she won on in Madrid last year was arguably about as clay-like as red is blue. And it is arguable as to how red-clayish these Madrid courts are. While the organisers had tried to make it as similar to Roland Garros as possible, the altitude of Madrid is a factor that they can do nothing about. If Serena’s game was ever going to be complimented by clay courts then these are those courts. And if she was ever going to have the perfect time of day and weather, well proof the stars were lined up shone for all to see. A sunny mid afternoon lay before her.

The Stars did not settle there, either. If Serena was ever going to have an opponent in the final against whom her game matched up perfectly, it was going to be Maria Sharapova. Maria hits balls with the pace and flatness Serena can tee off on. Unless Maria strikes the ball away from Serena, she is in trouble. Any balls in Serena’s hitting zone, any of them short and it is going to be put away for a winner, if not on that point, then the next one.

All Maria can do is hope Serena is having a bad day or, if Serena is playing well, mix up the balls she hits her way, a tactic she never employs, her brain frozen with fear, the memories of all those past losses seemingly as fresh as they were when dealt. And if Serena is playing her best game, then Maria can only do her best, which, unfortunately, is not as good as Serena’s.

Serena was at her best in the first set and took it 6-1. Maria fought though and led by a break in the second. We wondered if perhaps this might be a turnaround. After all, Maria is the defending French Open champion. But it was not to be. Serena took advantage of a 60% first serve percentage from the Russian and broke back.

At 4-5, serving to stay in the match, the stars took their final positions for Serena as Maria went down 0-40. Serena errored on the first championship point and then Maria errored on the second to conclude what was, unfortunately for those who like their tennis finals to have some competition, inevitable.

It was the Russian’s 12 th consecutive loss to Serena, her sixth since their meeting here last year. Some thought that she might be able to put a stop to this run seeing as red clay is her most successful surface of late. But Maria’s issues with Serena go beyond surfaces, styles even. This match up goes on in Maria’s head, each loss making an already hard task even more of a headache. And it makes the task of watching these matches even more painful for the spectator who would like to watch players competing in the big finals rather than playing out a psychological drama where one of the principals actresses has already lost the match before it even started.

There is hope though. This was Maria’s first final in Madrid and the slower clay of Rome awaits. Should that suit her better in a possible final encounter with Serena, then we might get what we want and what women’s tennis needs in the imminent Parisian showpiece: a final between the world’s top two which is as much about the here and now than what has been going on since 2005.