Serena is the Odds-On Favorite in Final

The former champ beats Italian Sara Errani in just over one hour

By Joe McDonald

(September 7, 2012) -- Serena Williams must have had plans this evening, because after that almost three hour thriller in the other women’s semifinal, she played like it was getaway day.

Sara Errani had no chance.

The final score was 6-1, 6-2, but it wasn’t even that close as Williams tanked the Italian faster than Errani’s homeland crashed its economy.

Williams was gracious in victory: “She played really well,” Serena said. “She's such a good hope for Italy. She's such a good fighter. I can see her improve so much. She played really well.”

Well that was nice. If she didn’t play well would that have meant the 1-hour, 4-minute match would have lasted just 45 minutes, if that.

And that’s what Victoria Azarenka has to face now. With a 9-1 record against the No. 1 seed, Williams looks like the favorite out there. But, as we have seen before, anything can happen. And Azarenka isn’t looking at the video tape on this one.

“Well, I don't want to be depressed,” she said. “ I mean, there is not really something that you can look at. But, no, I mean, it's just I'm going to have the same game plan with my coach as we did today and the days before.

“I'm not really big fan of watching and scouting. I like to watch tennis when it's live. I do enjoy that. But to look back, no.”

It looks like all Williams need to do is not beat herself. Last year and in 2009, she has on-court incidents that cost her matches against Sam Stosur and Kim Clijsters.

If she remains calm and not become unraveled, there’s a very good chance she will win her fourth U.S. Open title and 15th Grand Slam overall tomorrow night.

“Physically I'm much better,” Serena said. “Last year honestly I thought getting to the final was awesome and a great effort after being five months prior in the hospital. So for me, that was the most unbelievable effort. It's probably the only Grand Slam loss final that I wasn't really super disappointed.

“I mean, I was definitely disappointed, but not as down as I would have normally been under any other situation. So this year I'm physically better. I'm more confident, playing more matches and winning. I have Wimbledon under my belt. It's always fun to win that one. It's cool.”

Azarenka has her work cut out for her. A finesse player, she will have to have a perfect return of service game to beat Serena’s serve. Vika will also need to be perfect with her finesse serve and make sure she hits those lines with consistency.

“I've got to do something different, to be honest, you know, because the other times didn't really work for me,” Azarenka said. “So I definitely have to, you know, try to make sure that I'm the one who kind of dictates the play and try to, you know, control the match as much as possible.”

Should be interesting and even if the American crowd will be pro-Serena, Azarenka will have her fans, especially those she made this week from her dance routines after matches and fun personality. But if Vika is going to win the U.S. Open, she will have to earn it by beating three former champions in a row -- first Stosur, then Sharapova and now Serena.

It’s going to be interesting.

Or at least more than Serena’s match today, we hope.

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)