Vengeful Williams hammers Halep for WTA Finals title

SINGAPORE: Serena Williams sealed her fifth WTA Finals title and took sweet revenge for her crushing loss to Simona Halep when she hammered the Romanian 6-3, 6-0 in Singapore on Sunday.

The 18-time Grand Slam-winner was broken early in the match but she reeled off eight games in a row to humiliatingly "bagel" Halep, five days after the Romanian´s 6-0, 6-2 win in group play.

The peerless Williams yet again proved she remains on top of women´s tennis at the age of 33 after becoming the first player to win the season finale three times in a row since Monica Seles in 1992.

"She was playing so well and I was literally on the side of the court and I just laughed. I said, ´Serena, you have nothing to lose. Just relax!" Williams said.

"And then once I relaxed I just started playing better and kept making my shots."

Williams fired 26 winners to just five conceded as she sealed her fifth year-end title in a fourth different city, ending 2014 on a high as the world number one and US Open champion.

Alarm bells rang for Williams early on and she conceded the match´s first break to go behind 1-2, to chants of "Si-mo-na" at Singapore´s Indoor Stadium.

But the defending champion hit straight back, and aided by Halep´s double faults she shrieked "Come on!" as she completed a sequence of three game wins in a row.

Halep´s raking cross-court forehand got it back on serve but the frustrated Romanian pummelled her racquet on the floor as she was broken again to go 3-5 down, before Williams served out the set.

With Williams firmly in the groove, Halep´s hopes of becoming the first player to beat the American in the same week were fast receding as it became an exercise in damage-limitation.

But a grimly determined Williams wasn´t letting up and as she punished Halep´s second serve and repeatedly rushed to the net, the second set raced past in just 25 minutes.

Williams brought up three match points on Halep´s serve and after trying to cheekily drop-shot the first, she smashed home the second before celebrating with her arms aloft.

Williams, who withdrew from the China Open with a left knee injury, picks up the $2,047,000 winner´s cheque along with the Billie Jean King trophy, which she also lifted in 2001, 2009, 2012 and 2013.

"I didn´t expect this. I just started training because I had such a knee in Beijing so I wasn´t even sure if I would be able to play here," she said.

"And now I´ve won the Billie Jean King trophy again so for me it´s just really amazing, I´m so excited."

Fourth-ranked Halep had impressed in her wins against Bouchard, Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska as she became the first Romanian and the eighth debutante to reach the final.(AFP)