Serena Williams is back at No. 1 after a dominating victory Saturday over Dinara Safina that gave her a fourth Australian Open trophy and 10th Grand Slam singles title. The 27-year-old Serena knew going into the final that the winner would grab the top ranking. She left no doubt she deserves it. Serena routed Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 in 59 minutes. She was so overwhelming that third-seeded Safina apologized to the crowd for her performance, saying Serena left her feeling like a ballboy. Other than matches that ended early due to illness or injury, it was among the most lopsided Australian Open women's finals ever. Serena still remains far away from the women's record for Grand Slam singles titles. Margaret Court Smith had 24 and Steffi Graf 22, with Martina Navratilova among the others she would have to pass. Thanks to her power game and what she has called her toughest off-season training regime - she has been criticized in the past for not putting in enough work outside of tournament - Serena is moving up fast and will go into the French Open with a two Grand Slam winning streak after taking the US Open in September. “I idolized Steffi Graf growing up,” Serena said. “Martina Navratilova was someone who was my role model. Now people are starting to talk about me, which is uber cool. I can't get my mind around it.” The victory was all the more remarkable because she had looked so vulnerable earlier in the tournament, once loudly cursing her first service. But as she has done at Melbourne Park before, Serena managed to survive until it all came together. Serena finished with 23 winners and just seven unforced errors in the final, winning more than twice as many points as Safina. In the first game, Safina double-faulted three times, including on break point. Serena ran off 18 of the last 20 points in the first set to finish it in 22 minutes. It was Williams' second overwhelming victory in a final at Melbourne Park, where she kept alive her record of winning in odd-numbered years since 2003. Coming into the 2007 tournament unseeded after being plagued by injuries the year before, she beat top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. Sharapova rebounded to win last year but was unable to defend her title while recuperating from a shoulder injury. Increasingly dispirited, the crowd tried to encourage Safina, and she managed to break Williams in the first game of the second set. It just delayed the inevitable. Williams took the next four games, and things got so bad that Safina swung and completely missed a forehand while serving at 2-5. She managed to win the game, but Serena held at love when Safina sent a backhand wide on match point. Serena went over to slap hands with her mother and other people sitting in her box as Safina, looking shellshocked, sat in her chair waiting for the trophy presentation. She grimaced when Serena thanked her “for putting on a great show for women's tennis.” Serena is the fifth woman to win four or more Australian titles. By making the singles and doubles finals, she already had become the all-time leading money winner in women's sports. For winning the Australian singles title, she earned $1.3 million and now has career earnings of more than $23.5 million. Bob and Mike Bryan, meanwhile, won their seventh Grand Slam doubles title Saturday when they bounced back to crush Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. Yuki Bhambri had a 6-3, 6-1 win over Germany's Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas to become the first Indian player to win an Australian Open juniors title. Bhambri, 16, of New Delhi, took just 57 minutes to finish the match, breaking Georgoudas twice in each set. In the girls final, third-seeded Ksenia Pervak of Russia was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Australian-born Laura Robson, who represents Britain. On Sunday, top-ranked Rafael Nadal will face No. 2 Roger Federer in the men's final.
