Williams collected her third Stanford trophy and her fourth title of 2014, after triumphs in Brisbane, Miami and Rome. But the 17-time Grand Slam champion has struggled in majors this year, failing to make it past the fourth round in the Australian Open, French Open or Wimbledon. She'll have her last chance of the year to add another major title to her resume at the US Open, which starts at Flushing Meadows on August 25.
"That would definitely make (my year) better," Williams said. "That would be a great thing. But I'm just focused on the next tournament." Kerber, who saved a match point en route to her semi-final victory over Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday, soared to a 5-1 lead in the opening set. Trailing 5-2, Williams saved two set points as she broke Kerber to trim the gap to 5-3, part of a run of five straight games that gave her a 6-5 lead.
Williams saved one set point with a screaming forehand cross-court winner before Kerber netted a forehand. The American took the game when Kerber poked a forehand wide. Williams broke Kerber to love to knot the set at 5-5, and held serve for 6-5 with a game that included a 120 mile-per-hour ace. "It wasn't easy," Williams said. "I blinked my eye and I was down 1-5. She was playing so well, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what's going on?' "I just thought to myself, 'Relax, don't get crazy about it. Don't think about anything but making your shots.'" Kerber saved a set point in the 12th game as she held serve to force a tiebreaker that an increasingly confident Williams dominated.