Williams again puts the doubters in their boxes with another Slam

Williams is way too good for the rest

Serena Williams firmly put the haters back in their little boxes last night with a convincing three set victory over Victoria Azarenka. Yes Azarenka tried and yes it wasn't quite the cake-walk that I had predicted, but in the end a crushing 6-1 in the final set showed just how effective Serena can be when the eight ball is starting to cover her. The truth of the matter is, which the so called 'experts' (especially of Twitterland) will fail to grasp, is that Serena Williams is by far better than anyone else in the field; even Victoria Azarenka. This is a crushing decisive statement but it highlights just how lop-sided the women's game has become.

After the match we had the usual trotting out of lines such as 'How good is this women's game?' etc, but most people have failed to understand that what was meant to be, was.....in that when Serena decides that she wants to win, she will win. It is that simple. It doesn't matter which game players like Azarenka bring to the table, when it hits the fan, Williams has two or three gears which the other players can only dream of finding. Forget Cincinnati as tipsters/punters/experts would remind us for the millionth time, this is Grand Slam terrain, and what Williams has is an entire arsenal of experience to win the match when the going gets tough.

Williams in Cincinnati could barely be bothered and she still reached the final. I felt there were several issues with her that week, mostly it seemed mental ones. Not that she doubted her game, but just cloudy thinking whatever was going in between the ears. The worst thing Azarenka could have done was beat her there, Serena would have been far more vulnerable winning that and lowering her guard. Williams even said herself that the Cincinnati loss was the injection of energy she needed and to remind her that success has to be worked at and that the feeling of losing is a nasty one.

Serena's problem most of the time is that of sheer boredom and disappointment that she barely gets a game anymore. She has a nasty habit these days of winning the first set and then totally taking her foot off the pedal. But then again who can blame her as she leaves a trail of carnage over most opponents even those ranked around her. For her these days, with all the wins and the money, it's more about the match itself in the Grand Slams, than anything else. What she needs to get her to the highest level is a match and to be matched. It's only when this happens does Serena take it the level that the other women just cannot even dream to get close to.

What you'll have trumpeted over the next few days is a plethora of pundits and column inches dedicated to how well the other girl did. Well that's just fine, but don't kid yourself that the race is getting closer. It is not and Boris Becker alluded to as much. Matches are decided purely from the racquet of Williams and nobody else.