NEW YORK—The flaming red, white, and blue tennis-ball logo on the back wall wasn't the most visible blazing element on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. A red-hot Serena Williams won 10 of the first 12 games, torching Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1, 6-3, to roar into her eighth Flushing Meadows final.
Continuing her quest to join Chris Evert as only the second woman in the Open era to capture three consecutive U.S. Open titles, the world No. 1 will take on friend and former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday afternoon's final.
Perhaps the only task tougher than beating Serena is facing her again after you have beaten her. Makarova defeated Williams at the 2012 Australian Open, and when she dismissed Venus in Melbourne last January, she became the first woman who has never held the No. 1 ranking to beat both of the sisters in Grand Slam play. The Moscow native also paired with compatriot Elena Vesnina to bounce the Williams sisters out of the U.S. Open doubles draw last week—giving Serena a good look at that lefty serve and plenty of time to consider the rematch.
Elite players often operate with short-term memory loss, but Serena exhibits total recall when it comes to defeat. She made the Russian left-hander pay for those transgressions today. Williams overwhelmed and obliterated a tense Makarova from the outset, winning 10 of 18 points played on the 17th-seed's serve and hitting 12 winners to her opponent's two.
Serena rolled through the first set in 26 minutes. When Williams smacked a backhand winner down the line to hold for 4-0, a man behind me remarked, "The party's over." Serena was in no mood for merriment. Watching the first 12 games was like watching a game of musical chairs with only Williams listening to the tunes.
Tuned into the muse, a relaxed Williams displaced Makarova with the depth and angle or her returns and deconstructed her with an explosive serve. Playing with buzz-kill brilliance, Williams won 19 of 33 points played on the two-time quarterfinalist's first serve and converted five of 10 break points. She cracked five aces and rolled through most of her service games, surrendering just six points on her first serve.
The top seed's only real misstep came when she blew a 30-0 lead serving for the final at 5-2. Netting a backhand off her back foot, Williams donated serve for the only time all day. Refocused, she immediately broke back, ending a clinical 60-minute thrashing with a wide smile and raised fist.
Katy Perry's "Roar" blasted over the sound system as Serena twirled in the center of the court waving to the crowd. Re-energized after a disappointing Grand Slam season, Serena enters the U.S. Open final fresh off her best match of the tournament, looks highly motivated to capture her 18th career Grand Slam crown—and, as U.S. Open Series champion, a record $4 million payday on Sunday.