MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - Serena Williams
swept past Russia's Dinara Safina in less than an hour on
Saturday evening in Melbourne to win the Australian Open title
for a fourth time.
The U.S. No. 2 seed had saved match point in her semifinal
against Safina's compatriot Elena Dementieva but rarely came
under pressure after winning the first set 6-0 in 22 minutes.
The Russian No. 3 fought back, breaking Williams' serve in
the first game of the second set, but the American was too
strong, taking the match 6-0, 6-3 in 59 minutes.
Williams won the doubles title with her sister, Venus, on
Friday, and will regain the WTA world No. 1 ranking when the
list is published next week. She has won the Australian Open
every other year since 2003 and becomes just the seventh woman
to win 10 Grand Slam titles.
Safina's defeat was a disappointing end to a championship
that saw three Russians in the semifinals. Williams' last three
matches were against Russian women, as she overcame Svetlana
Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.
On a brighter note, Russia could celebrate a win in
Melbourne even before Safina took the court, as 17-year-old
Ksenia Pervak won the Junior Girls' Singles competition 6-3,
6-1 against Britain's Laura Robson, 15.
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