Serena wins big in Beijing in the Asian Swing

Serena William’s stellar 2013 continued into the Asian Swing of the tour. The world number one made only one appearance but she made it a big one and at the biggest tournament, too, the Premier Mandatory China Open.

The American skipped the Tokyo Premier tournament, which in her absence was won by Petra Kvitova. The Czech beat Venus Williams in a third set breaker in the semis, putting an end to Venus’s best week in 2013, one which saw her beat world number 2 Azarenka in straights. The Czech then conquered Angelina Kerber in three sets to win her second title of the year. The win kept the world number 7’s head, once considered most likely to lead the game, above water in a career that seems to go from high to low week in week out.

Kvitova did manage to keep her winning streak going all the way to the semis in Beijing where she led Jankovic by a set before capitulating to her own inconsistency and the tenacity of her opponent and losing the next two sets somewhat tamely.

For Williams though, the last couple of seasons have rescued a career that many thought was as erratic but which may turn out to be considered one of the, if not THE, greatest ever. A year that started out with victory in Brisbane in the first week of the tour has seen 10 tournament wins including two slams. And Beijing made it her third Premier Mandatory after Madrid and Miami.

Facing Jankovic in a big final in ’13 was not a new event for Serena. Jankovic is having somewhat of a renaissance five years after leading the women’s game and took a set of Serena in the Charleston final. But in Beijing, it was not to be as close. In a week when Serena was visibly upset at times, as against Kirilenko who pushed her to two tight sets, and fighting a rumoured back injury, Serena found her best form for the final, gritting her teeth and focusing to pull out the win 6-2 6-2.

While Serena may have proved to be the star of the Asian swing, there was also success for other big names in some of the smaller tournaments. Radwanska won in Seoul and Stosur took the title in Osaka, Zhang won in Quangzhou and Jovanovski won in Ningbo, beating Zhang in the final.