KEY BISCAYNE:
Clutching her latest trophy, Serena Williams brushed confetti from her arms and smiled for the cameras as she chatted with Martina Navratilova, her relaxed multitasking a reflection of vast experience with championship ceremonies.
Serena wins everywhere she goes, and she wins on Key Biscayne more than anywhere else. She earned her eighth title in the tournament on Saturday and remained unbeaten this year by drubbing Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 in the Miami Open final.
Serena became the fourth player to win the same WTA event at least eight times. Navratilova won Chicago 12 times, the most titles by a woman at any tournament.
“I’d like to believe the older I get, the better I get,” said the 33-year-old. But she grimaced when asked if she thought she might match Navratilova by winning Key Biscayne 12 times. “I hope not,” she said. “I would be how old? No, let’s pray that I don’t get to 12.”
In Suarez Navarro, Serena faced an opponent she had beaten in four prior encounters without dropping a set.
And the 12th-seeded Spaniard, playing in the biggest final of her career, wasn’t surprised to find the winners zinging past her from every part of the court.
“When I play with Serena I know that she’s the best,” Suarez Navarro said. “She has the game to make me play bad. But this time I believed in me, in how I’m playing the other matches. I tried. I tried until the last point, but it was tough and difficult for me.”
In bright sunshine, Suarez Navarro started with determination but Serena broke to go 4-2 up in the first and never looked back as she went on to win 10 straight games.
Serena broke again at the end of the first set and the second was barely a contest with the Spaniard winning just five points.
The American, a 19-times Grand Slam champion, produced some magnificent winners, 27 in all, and her powerful serve delivered seven aces with the win also extending Serena’s winning streak at premier mandatory level matches to 46.
