SERENA WILLIAMS CONQUERS STANFORD 2014. BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC.

STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – 

17-time Grand Slam champion and World No. 1 Serena Williams managed to get back on track in one of her most comfortable settings. 

 Competing in her first tournament since suffering early singles and doubles exits at Wimbledon last month, Williams defeated Angelique Kerber 7-6 (1), 6-3 on Sunday afternoon in the championship match of the 2014 Bank of the West Classic at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Capturing her WTA-leading fourth title of the year, Williams claimed her third Bank of the West Classic title in four years overall after winning back-to-back crowns in 2011-12. Williams, who collected her 61st career WTA singles title, extended her winning streak at the tournament to 13 consecutive matches. Williams, who is set to spend her 200th non-consecutive week at the No. 1 spot in the rankings, improved to 5-1 all-time against Kerber, who was seeking her first title of 2014 after three-runner up finishes. 

 The result was similar to Williams’ semifinal victory against Andrea Petkovic on Saturday, in which the top-seeded Williams had to overcome a difficult first set before cruising in the second. Making her Bank of the West Classic main draw debut, Kerber was bidding to become the first lefthander to claim the tournament title since Martina Navratilova in 1993 (Oakland). Kerber raced out to a 5-1 advantage and was serving for the first set at 5-2. But Williams saved two set points and proceeded to win five consecutive games. Tied at 6-6, Williams took a 5-0 lead in the tiebreaker and never looked back. Williams remained in control during the second set, winning the final two games after Kerber held serve to close to within 4-3. Williams’ powerful serve was a consistent weapon throughout the week, hammering home three aces in each set to increase her tournament-leading total to 31. Kerber, who dropped to 3-9 in her career in singles finals, won a pair of three-setters on her way to the final while booking victories over CoCo Vandeweghe, Garbine Muguruza and Varvara Lepchenko.