2014 US OPEN: Serena Wins 18th Major, 3rd Consecutive U.S. Open

As I predicted, Serena Williams defeated her good friend Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the 2014 U.S. Open, winning her 18th major championship, 3rd consecutive in New York City. Serena won in dominant fashion, 6-3 6-3, despite a nervous first set that saw her barely making more than 1-in-3 first serves and featured 5 breaks of serve in the first 6 games. After that, both players settled down, and once Serena's service percentage went up, she concentrated on maintaining her early break advantage in the final set by serving powerfully and pushing her opponent all over the court,, eventually ending the match on another service break two points after a thrilling 26-stroke rally that the American also won.

Serena's win was the 5th time that she has won a major title without dropping a set--in fact no player won more than 3 games in a single set with her all tournament long. Winning 18 majors means that she will go down in history as a legendary American tennis player, currently tied with the great Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and could possibly catch up to Steffi Graf's 22 before she retires. At age 32 (just a few weeks before her 33rd birthday) Serena is the oldest major champion since Navratilova won her ninth(!) Wimbledon title at age 33 in 1990.

Currently ranked #1 and threatening to play until at least the Rio Olympics in 2016, Serena has a decent chance of reaching at least 20 titles.