NEW YORK -- Serena Williams defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the US Open final. In a dominant performance the No. 8 seed and 23-time Grand Slam champion took down No. 5 Svitolina in 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach her 10th US Open singles final, the most by any player, man or woman, in Open Era. Williams will face Bianca Andreescu in Saturday's final.
Supreme Serena 💪@serenawilliams will seek a 7th crown in New York after dispatching Svitolina 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals...#USOpen pic.twitter.com/BDHaI0iKOb
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2019
Williams with get another chance to match Margaret Court's all-time Grand Slam title record by winning her 24th Grand Slam singles title. Since returning to professional tennis after becoming a mother in 2017, Williams is 0-3 in her last three Grand Slam finals. She lost the controversial US Open final to Naomi Osaka last year, and also lost in the 2018 and 2019 Wimbledon finals.
Williams, at 37-years-old, now owns the largest gap between first Grand Slam final and most recent final appearance. She reached (and won) her first Grand Slam final at the 1999 US Open, when she was just 17 years old. That puts the gap at nearly 20 years.
"It's really good to be in yet another final, it seems honestly crazy," Williams said after the win. "But I don't really expect too much less."
During Thursday's semifinal match, Williams was moving better than ever on the court, entertaining the Arthur Ashe crowd with relentless rallies and impressive shots. Like this one:
Just superb from Serena 🔥@serenawilliams is on another level, now up a double break...#USOpen pic.twitter.com/XEOE1YIGSh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2019
The first two games lasted 16 minutes, and while Svitolina was within striking distance, Williams fought off six break points and got off to a commanding 4-1 lead in the first set. Williams' rhythm on the court only got better from there, as she settled in to each rally, carefully calculating every swing of the racket.
Williams finished with 33 winners and 20 unforced errors while Svitolina recorded just 11 winners and 17 unforced errors.