The drama queen came face-to-face with the comeback queen at Flushing Meadows on Sunday. Jelena Jankovic provided the on-court theatrics and Serena Williams bounced away with the US Open trophy. Nine years after winning her first Grand Slam title, Williams collected major number nine on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court, silencing Jankovic with a 6-4, 7-5 victory that also lifted her back to the top of the world rankings for the first time in over five years. Jankovic had four set points to take the women's final into a decider for the first time since 1995 but blew her chances, allowing Williams to complete a merciless charge to her third Open title without losing a set in seven matches. “I'm so excited. I wasn't even going for number one and it's just like an added bonus,” said 26-year-old Williams, who hurled her racket high in the air and bounded up and down after crunching down a backhand winner on match point. The bad weather meant it was the first time since 1974 that the women's final in New York was not played on a Saturday. While Williams meant business on court, Jankovic seemed to think she had a starring role in a big screen comedy film. Williams fired a missile toward her chest, Jankovic fended it off with a self defense volley and laughed. Not satisfied with entertaining the crowd, she looked up at the big screen to study a replay of the point and laughed again. She did the splits after chasing down the ball, she laughed, she missed a backhand, she sighed - much to the amusement of the 23,000 fans packed into the arena. Williams' triumph was also a testament to her longevity because her last reign as world number one was in August 2003 - the longest ever gap between stints as number one for a woman. – Reuters __
