SINGAPORE: Serena Wil­lia­ms took sweet revenge for her crushing loss to Simona Halep when she hammered the Romanian 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday to win her third-successive title at the WTA Finals and her fifth overall, proving once again why she remains the most formidable force in women’s tennis.

The 18-time Grand Slam-winner was broken early in the match but she reeled off eight games in a row to avenge her “embarrassing” loss to Halep in the group stage of the season-ending tournament with a ruthless display, overpowering her pint-sized opponent at every opportunity.

Halep shocked Serena 6-0, 6-2 just four days earlier but the American turned that around with an aggressive game plan that unsettled the Romanian.

Serena won 11 of the last 12 games in the match and proved she remains on top of women’s tennis at the age of 33 after becoming the first player to win the season finale three times in a row since Monica Seles in 1992.

“I lost to her a couple of days ago so I knew she was capable of playing well,” Serena said in a courtside interview.

“She started well and I knew I had to play well to beat her and I did play well.”

The match was the most one-sided championship match in the WTA Finals since Kim Clijsters beat Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-0 in 2003.

“It was an amazing week so I can’t be too sad that I lost,” Halep said. “Congratulations to Serena, you are the best.”

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2014