Patty Schnyder’s forehand did all it could to throw Serena Williams off the Bangalore Open title path. After an hour and twenty three minutes of battle, though, it conceded defeat, having found a worthy opponent in the third seed’s backhand. Serena took her time to find the rhythm, breaking a racket on the way, but by end, the Swiss was dancing to the Williams tune. With elder sister Venus watching her 7-5, 6-3 victory from the stands, Serena rose to the occasion, and her widest smiles at the end were reserved for the family.“It feels good to be a champion at Bangalore, it feels good to win. Today, I just wanted to not make a lot of errors; even when I was down I just wanted to hold serve, I was not thinking about losing. I’m definitely still not at my best though,” said Serena.This particular gleaming trophy may hold special significance for the younger Williams sibling, as it signals a title after ten long months, the last title being Miami in April 2007. “This is a really big win for me. I missed many tournaments which I should have played, and initially I was just happy to be here and competing,” she smiled. Break points squanderedSerena squandered a few break points before she clinched the first break of the match. Schnyder’s usually reliable forehand messed up this time, and a 4-2 lead belonged to Serena. The advantage happened to be short-lived, though. A double fault, a bad call, together with a terrific lob from Schnyder all conspired in giving the Swiss the break back.Serena could just watch as two set points slipped by while Schnyder was serving to stay in the set at 5-4, and two more at 6-5, but an emphatic smash right after that made it clear she had had enough.Schnyder did the rest, her backhand error giving Serena a one-set lead. The world No 12 from Basel briefly threatened a three-setter in the second, playing her forehand to perfection as she ran up a 3-1 lead.That, though, was just about as close as she got. Serena did not allow her to win a single game more, and Schnyder’s feeble return on match point summed up the game, set and match.
