US Open: Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki vow to put friendship aside in final
Sunday 7 September 2014 13:00, UK
Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have vowed to put their friendship to one side when they battle it out in the US Open women’s final on Sunday.
Despite a nine-year age gap, the pair have a formed a close bond in recent years with Wozniacki spending a week partying with Williams in Miami soon after her highly-publicised split from Rory McIlroy.
Having often squared off against older sister Venus, Williams is accustomed to putting personal relationships aside on the court and insists she will have no trouble doing so this time in what she expects to be a very tough challenge.
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"If I can play Venus, I can play anybody," Serena said. "I grew up with Venus. We've actually lived together going on 33 years, which is kind of sad.
"I definitely expect another close match. She (Wozniacki) really knows my game well and knows how to play.
"She's so consistent. I think that's one of the things that make her really tough. So I just have to be ready for that and, again, just stay calm and just be able to relax and be happy.”
Wozniacki was full of praise for her American opponent in the build-up to the final but insisted she too will have no trouble forgetting their personal relationship once the match begins.
"Serena is a fun girl," said Wozniacki. "She's so nice to hang out with. Always makes me laugh and makes everyone around her laugh. Definitely a very inspiring person to be around.
Huge match
"But I'm pretty good at separating things on the court and off the court. It's definitely going to be a huge match on Sunday. The friendship, while we are on court, is put aside.
"We are both competitors. We will just be out there and fighting for every point. After the match, one of us is going to congratulate the other and we're going to be friends again."
Williams is playing in her third consecutive US Open final as she bids to join Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert on 18 career Grand Slam titles.
It has been far from plain sailing at Grand Slams for the world No 1 so far in 2014 however with early exits from the Australian and French Opens followed by a very strange episode at Wimbledon when the American was hardly able to serve the ball while playing doubles with Venus.
Williams admitted she is relieved to be back in a Grand Slam final after a trying period in her career: "The past six months, I would never have thought I'd be here."
Wozniacki’s run to the final is far more surprising as the 24-year-old had not even made a slam quarter-final since the Australian Open in 2012.
The Dane was one of the game’s rising stars when she made her first US Open final at 19 and, despite losing to Kim Clijsters, she became World No 1 a year later but her form tailed off from there.
Since splitting from McIlroy, Wozniacki's level of play has improved dramatically with the World No 11 winning her first title of the year in Istanbul in July and beating two top-10 players in Cincinnati last month.
Williams has won 8 of the pair’s 9 career meetings but Wozniacki pushed her close in two recent matches in Montreal and Cincinnati and is hopeful she can improve upon those results on Sunday.
"When she's on fire, she's hard to beat," Wozniacki said. "But I have had two tough matches against her the last few weeks. I was really close. Hopefully for me, third time's the charm.
"I have nothing to lose. I have only things to win. It's one more match, and I'm going to take it as any other match. I know it's going to be difficult, but it's going to be so much fun to be out there."
You can watch the US Open women’s final live on Sky Sports 3HD on Sunday, with coverage beginning at 9.30pm.
