Maria won her fifth final this year by defeating Serena Williams of the USA in a 106 minutes lasting match: 4-6 6-2 6-4.
"I don't think I could've asked for anything better this year," Maria said. "It's been an extraordinary year for me. I know that I'm not showing a lot of emotion, but I'm sort of just speechless."
Maria stunned Williams for the Wimbledon title in July, propelling the blond teen queen to international stardom. She finished the year with five titles.
Williams trailed 5-2 in the second set when she called for a trainer after straining her abdominal muscle. The injury greatly affected Williams' serve - usually a 120-mph weapon but reduced to the 65-mph puff of a weekend hacker.
"After she got the medical treatment, I could tell that she had problems serving, but on the groundstrokes she was just teeing off on everything," Maria said. "Beside her serve, she didn't look injured once she was playing, so she was actually being really tough. I couldn't capitalize on the weak serves that she hit."
Not only is Maria the new WTA Tour Champion, she will also climb to a career high #4 position in the WTA ranks.
Click here for pictures of the match!
November 16th, 2004
Posted by: Marco
Leave a comment