Apr 6, 2008, 0:33 GMT
Miami - Serena Williams smashed a racket and tossed away seven match points before finally limping to a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 title win Saturday at the Miami Masters against Jelena Jankovic.
The frustrated American claimed her fifth title at the event to pull level with Steffi Graf on the all-time list at Crandon Park.
Williams was struggling to control her rage at the end of the two- hour, 25-minute struggle, which was punctuated twice by her failure to serve out what had looked like a straightforward victory.
She finally got lucky on her third opportunity, screaming as she produced an overhead smash, which hit the mark to end the unaesthetic encounter.
'I was definitely up and on my way to glory and out of there, within an hour,' said the winner.
'But I started making a lot of mistakes. Jelena obviously started playing. When you have nothing to lose, those are the most dangerous people in life, you know, on the court. Normally I just close it out. I just didn't make the right shots. ... I made the mistakes at the wrong time.'
Jankovic, seeded fourth, admitted she just hung in after being seen by the trainer and tournament doctor at the start of the third set for a continuing case of sinus congestion, which has put her on a course of antibiotics.
Williams led a set and two breaks when her near-collapse began. Jankovic grabbed an opening as she profited from Williams' 52 unforced errors to level at a set each, as Serena double-faulted it away.
But the Serb looked like again running out of puff in the third as she trailed 0-5 before surprising the Williams with a final fightback effort before eventually going down.
'I was thinking maybe she would let me come back to 5-all and make it fun for fans and me,' joked Jankovic, winner of five career titles.
'But she was too strong, a great champion, all the credit to her for playing well. She was the better one, for sure. I don't know how I came back in the second set but somehow managed. The third was a bit of a struggle. I was just fighting to stay in the match.'
Williams, seeded eighth and the defending champion, lifted her second trophy of the season after also winning in Bangalore. Jankovic had beaten Williams handily on January 22 in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Eight-time Grand Slam holder Williams improved to 47-5 at her home event, while running her 2008 record to 14 wins, one loss.
'It got tough,' said Williams. 'I got a little tight and put too much pressure on myself. But Jelena has been giving everyone a lot of trouble.'
Williams, who plays a limited schedule, has already beaten world number one Justine Henin, number four Svetlana Kuznetsova and the third-ranked Jankovic at this edition.
'I take a lot of confidence away. I played solid tournament,' said Williams.
The loss denied Jankovic the chance to move to a career-best second in the world behind Henin. The loser now stands 3-3 with Williams in their series.
Your Talkback on this Story