US OPEN 2008: Women's Final Preview

Serena Williams USA (4)	vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (2)

The World #1 ranking is on the line. The 2008 US Open title is on the line. Bragging rights are on the line. 8-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is facing first-time Grand Slam finalist Jelena Jankovic in a weather-postponed Women's Final at 6pm PDT (9pm EDT) on CBS.

Interestingly, the two have played each other six times head-to-head in their careers, splitting the matches 3-3 (all on hard courts). They have even played twice this year, with Jankovic winning at the Australian Open in straight sets when Serena was strangely flat while Williams won in Miami in three sets after blowing a large second set lead.

However, here in New York Serena has not lost more than three games in a set to anyone except her sister Venus and has also refused to lose a set, despite facing (count 'em!) ten set points in that magical quarterfinal. Jankovic is very hungry for a title, she wants to match her Serbian countrywoman's French Open title with one of her own, to confirm her #1 ranking with the concomitant major title. Serena has won this title twice before and has been working extremely hard all year long. She has been #1 before for 57 weeks in a row from 2002-2003 and by returning to the #1 spot she would complete a historical achievement by winning her 9th major championship and bring her one step closer to the extreme heights of tennis greatness of holding a double digit number of major titles.

PREDICTION: Williams in 2 sets.