Only the second major title she has defended. First time playing Justine in a major final. Winning the AO in an even year. lol Serena still has a lot of things she's proving. Glad to see her engaged and interested. And she can still improve her game...be interesting to see if she develops in shotmaking/touch and also strategy of attack.

Justine obviously had a fantastic tournament. And the women's game is immeasurably improved with her return, along with Kim's return. The bodies of the top players will have to hold up...but, if so, I expect a return to higher, more consistent play during the season. Less of the pretenders winning so much now that the two best defenders are healthy, playing, and eager.

Serena "had' to win that one after the US Open loss to Clijsters. You could see in the 3rd set, losing was just not an option for her. Congrats.

I agree ballcrusher. Because of that I think the early stages of that match you could see the tension. But as she held and Justine kept failing to convert break points, I think the tension eased and she wasn't going to be denied. Seemed like she mailed in that second set, but man she got going in the third. Those semifinal matches really rope-a-doped some people. The match still could've gone to Henin but Serena's serve is just too much. If Henin wants to win Wimbledon, she's going to have to serve well in the latter stages. Its always been the weakest part of her game, and you are not rewarded for weak serve % these days at Wimbledon.

Looks like it was a well fought match. (No questionable sportmanships!) The stats look pretty even. Obviously key points made the difference, especially in the 3rd set.
Justine's fragile serve was the nail in the third set. Geez, once her confidence wobbles, it's not necessarily over, but hard to buck up. Serena's slamming made ut really hard for JH to stick with Plan A--to come to the net more. She did that in her first couple of matches, but then I think she just wanted to keep winning, so didn't want to experiment too much. I wonder what her plans are now. No majors until the French which is a long way off.

It was an enjoyable match, well-played and a well-earned win for Serena. I'm sure Justine isn't too disappointed because really--it all boiled down to first serve percentage. She went after Serena's serve about as well as you can. I think she has to be very pleased to have everything but her first serve working so well for her just two tournaments back. The second serve actually held up pretty well...6 double faults over three sets and winning 45% of the points on your second serve is pretty decent against an opponent like Serena.

I stayed up to watch it. My impressions were that Serena seemed a little tired and wasn't moving as well as she normally does. Especially the middle part of the 1st set and the last 3 games of the 2nd set. Yes, Henin hit some big shots. But the thought ran briefly through my mind that Serena may retire from the match. She seemed to be limping a little bit when she took the bathroom break (maybe all the taping made her walk a little funny???), she wasn't moving well, she seemed to be a little bit slow and she looked lethargic - it wasn't the Serena I'm used to seeing. I also thought she seemed nervous, especially during the 1st set. Having said all of that, Serena brought it in the 3rd set on serve and return (and emotion), and Henin starting missing a lot of the shots she was making at the end of the 2nd set. And I don't know if I've ever seen someone defend her serve as well. Serena had very few easy serve games (until the 3rd set), but she kept serving herself out of big holes. Henin got her racket on a lot of Serena's serves, especially during the first 3-4 points of her serve games, and Serena kept coming up with the goods and held most of her serve games. Finally, I loved Serena's reaction when she won. I love a happy/engaged Serena and hope she can bring it at the French.

Odd comment by Serena during her press conference:

Q. Difference between Kim and Justine?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, hmm. I'm going to keep that to myself.

I'm guessing that Serena respects Justine enough that she can accept losing to her at a slam. I don't know if she feels that way about Clijsters. Although Kimmy had amazing U.S. Open runs the last two times she played, she has a ways to go to catch up to the top players of her generation. When Serena looks back on her career she would probably say Henin, Venus and Capriati were her true rivals -- the only ones who could put some doubt into her head going into a slam match about whether she could win it or not. Losing to Clijsters, I think she felt like she lost to a lesser player rather than an equal and maybe that played into her reaction on match point down at the U.S. Open. Serena's post match comments are full of praise for Justine. She said the match could have gone either way and that Justine can end the year at No. 1. I've never heard her say anything like that about anyone else, except Venus.

WTA CEO Stacey McAllastar Tells Sharapova How It Is

For what it's worth, I think Serena would have lost that USO match to Clijsters even without the fiasco, and I kinda bristle against suggestions otherwise -- especially because Serena made her bed, and she cheated Clijsters out of a legit win with her drama. What separated that match from the likes of Serena's steamroll come-from behind win over Azarenka was:
-- Clisjsters was two points, not two games, from the finish.
-- Serena's serve, return and footwork was still off, even two points from the end. She was showing no signs of tapping into something new, and Clijsters for once in career wasn't showing nerves.
-- Every time in the second set that Clijsters ordinarily would have buckled, she instead rose to the occasion -- by hitting clutch aces, especially. It was just that kind of night.

This is not to say that Clijsters has been the caliber of opponent of a Henin or Capriati. (Venus is a whole other complicated issue.)

The USO drama seems to me a bit like Post-Traumatic Ashe Disorder, in that the line call happened on the same court where the outrageous officiating against Serena took place in the Capriati match. That's why I'll never blame Serena for it, even if I think she f**ked up big time.

She was solid last night, and hit some beautiful winners. I especially loved an inside out forehand she hit at the end of one rally. It's such nonsense when Carillo says Henin's technique is so superior to Serena's. In fact, Serena's shotmaking is far more relaxed and flowing and less prone to error -- at least while Justine is playing a pure power game.

As much as her serve, Henin's strategy failed her last night. She has more variety than she utilized. The slice wasn't working the way I'd thought it would, but changing up the pace can trip up Serena. It's a dangerous approach though. And Serena's footwork last night was excellent. When Serena commits and concentrates no one can beat her.

That was hilarious. But I am starting to wonder about Sharapova. I really did put her up in the same category as Serena, Justine and Venus (at least at Wimbledon), because of her mental toughness. But, it's been almost a year since she returned to the tour from her injury and her greatest run seemed to be at the French Open, when she was probably at her freshest. (As an aside: is there something about great players doing amazing things initially in their comeback, before than suffering a letdown? Think: Serena in 2004, Maria, Kim...let's see what happens to Justine). Can she re-establish herself as a top contender or does the next generation overtake her?

My wishlist going into the final was modest: no controversies, no retirements, and a third set. So I'm pretty pleased.

It was actually an ideal match-up where I was concerned; although I was definitely in Justine's corner, if Serena came up with the goods I was cool with her winning and adding to her considerable Slam tally. While Serena's serve gets a lot of attention, I think also her underrated defensive skills came into play; there were several times, especially on break chances it seemed, when it looked that Justine (with her newly aggressive style) had seized control of a point and was on the verge of winning it when Serena managed to work her way back into it, or forced Justine to hit one more shot that she couldn't put away.

The commentators didn't seem to take note of it, but that was the first three-set women's Slam final since Mauresmo won Wimbledon back in 2006 (also against Henin actually). It was really getting on my nerves, so I'm glad that unflattering streak was broken. The closest had been Jankovic's failure to convert five (!) set points in the second set of the USO '07 final.

So, yeah. 12 Slams is quite impressive. Technically Serena is tied for sixth with BJK, as was often mentioned, but in the Open Era she now has the third-biggest haul of titles (although she sits fourth, since Chrissy and Martina tie for second), since of course Helen Wills Moody was pre-Open era, and Court and BJK won about half of their titles pre-Open era as well, respectively. Since Graf won her last Slam in 1999, the same year Serena won her first, it's tempting to see the seamless transition between all-time greats now (kind of like Graf picking up where Navratilova left off).

Anyhow, congrats to Serena. You know Henin will be gunning for a rematch in Paris, shifting from Serena's unofficial turf in Melbourne (where she had won four times, now five) to her own (having won Roland Garros four times).

Ok watching the replay of this match....Justine's continued looks up to her coach remain creepy.

"Justine ended her marriage with her husband and came back from retirement, and can still make it further than you even with her face covered in herpes."

What a treat. I went to San Diego last night, just happened to turn the TV on, and there was the women's final. Got to watch the whole thing. I saw Justine coming to the net in the 3rd set completely without any success. I think I would have gone back to Plan A, just to get the win, at that point. But I'm not her.
And I got to see the stuff on her face that some of you had mentioned. Agh. It's not pock marks or pimples, but what looks like a rash from either rubbing too much, or stress, or herpes, as has been mentioned. She needs to slap some neosporin on there and leave it alone. At least she doesn't have acne like that Serena guy sitting in the boxes.
And hey TV really does put weight on a person. Serena looked huge, and Justine looked average. I know both of those descriptions are distorted. It was a good match though. Amazing that JH came this far. She is bbaacckk. Serve really didn't look that bad either.
And then this morning, right when I woke up, the men 's final was on. And I hadn't yet gotten the results, so that was kind of fun to watch. Although after the first 2 sets, it was sort of an inevitable outcome....
but that's another thread. Bravo to Andy Murray for giving the Brits something to cheer for.

Yes tealsea...the guy in Serena's box with the acne is her hitting partner Bajin Aleksander...aka Sascha. I did notice he had a terrible acne outbreak. He's still a cutie though and I've never seen his face break out like that. He just might want to lower the sugar and drink more water. Hell...Serena is/was a Proactiv spokesperson. She should be hookin him up with some kits or somethin.

What is up with her and Carlos? I know it's coach and athlete, but it has gotten to a creepy level