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By Chris Oddo | Monday, October 20, 2014

 
Serena Williams, WTA Finals 2014

Serena Williams opened her bid for a 5th WTA Finals title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ana Ivanovic.

Photo Source: Julian Finney/ Getty

Serena Williams opened her bid for a fifth WTA Finals title in Singapore with a resounding 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ana Ivanovic.

Ivanovic was able to push the 18-time Grand Slam champion in both sets, but Williams, behind a 12-0 ace advantage and her typical champion’s grace on the biggest points, was able to notch the victory in one hour and 18 minutes without too many complications.

Williams, who owns a combined 50-4 record against the rest of the WTA Finals field, has now won four consecutive matches against Ivanovic since dropping a decision to the Serb at this year’s Australian Open.

“I’m really excited with how I played tonight,” Williams said to the crowd after clinching the win. “I’m think I’m losing my voice from saying so many come-ons!”

After racing out to a 4-1 lead, Williams would squander two points for a 5-1 lead and eventually allow a surging Ivanovic to crawl back to 4-all. But when Ivanovic failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity to break serve in the next game, she sagged and tossed in one of her seven double-faults on the day to hand Williams the set in the next game.

Ivanovic would break in the first game of the second set, but Williams would answer right back.

After seven consecutive holds of serve, Williams broke through in the final game to seal the victory.




Notes, Numbers

Williams increased her winning streak at the WTA Finals to 16 matches, which is the second-longest streak in the history of the event (Navratilova, 21).

Williams is making her 9th WTA finals appearance in her sixth different city.

Williams 12 aces ties her for the WTA lead in 2014 with Karolina Pliskova. Each now have 430.

 

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